Today in History: Police Officer Turned Whistleblower Who Witnessed Maina Njenga’s Wife’s Killing Shot Dead

On October 16, 2008, former police officer turned whistleblower Benard Kiriinya was shot and killed just outside a safe house provided by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) in Nairobi.

Reports indicate that Kiriinya was lured to a meeting by a former colleague at the Sarit Centre, and while walking back to the safe house, he was ambushed by assailants.

Witnesses reported that two hitmen approached him, shot him in the back of the head, stole his mobile phones, and fled on foot before escaping in a getaway car.

The KNCHR and other human rights organisations, including the United Nations, strongly believed that the police were involved in his execution, citing several suspicious circumstances. These included a police officer visiting him just hours before the shooting and the targeted nature of the attack.

Police spokesperson Eric Kiraithe dismissed the allegations of police involvement in Kirinya’s death as “callous and irresponsible.”

Benard Kiriinya Shot Dead

Prior to his death, Kiriinya provided a detailed account to the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, outlining his involvement in multiple extrajudicial killings carried out by police units, particularly against the outlawed Mungiki group, between 2006 and 2008.

At the time of his confession, he was 43 years old and working as a driver in the Special Crime Prevention Unit at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) headquarters in Nairobi.

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His account was recorded on video and shared with the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Killings, Professor Philip Alston. In his confession, Kirinya detailed witnessing several killings, including the murder of Virginia Nyakio, the wife of ex-Mungiki leader Maina Njenga, who was killed alongside her driver, Ndungu wa Wagacha.

Kirinya also recounted the murder of a wanted criminal named Matheri, who had been on the police radar for some time.

High Profile Murders Allegedly Committed by the Police Squad

According to his account, an elite squad that he accompanied to kill Matheri handcuffed the criminal and forced his wife to cook for them.

They then made Matheri kneel in front of his house and shot him in the back of the head. Following his death, Kirinya alleged that the scene was staged with a planted AK-47 rifle to create the appearance of a serious exchange of gunfire between the suspects and the police.

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Additionally, Kirinya alleged that the secretive police squad was involved in the killing of a Kikuyu businessman known as “Mushakuru” in 2007. He claimed that Mushakuru was tortured, strangled, and had his eyes removed before his body was dumped near Nairobi Dam.

Kirinya also witnessed the tracking and killing of a purported Mungiki sect leader, Kimani Ruo, in June 2007. Ruo was reportedly shot and strangled by multiple officers in Kiambu, and Kirinya alleged that Ruo’s face was disfigured with blows from a rungu to prevent identification.

The death of the whistleblower remains a mystery, and no one has ever been arrested in connection with it.

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