By Tum David
The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the Kenya Himan Rights Commission (KHRC) together with the victims of the Karebe Gold Mine tragedy staged a peaceful demonstration to the offices of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecution (ODPP) in Nairobi on Tuesday 20th April, 2023 to present a memorandum to the Director Mr Noordin Haji.
The LSK in partnership with KHRC are deeply concerned by the recent events surrounding the investigations into the deadly gold mine blast that killed three (3) people in the Karebe Gold Mine shafts at Kibisem Location, Tinderet Sub-County of Nandi County on 23rd January, 2023.
The tragic incident which occurred around 1615hhrs resulted in the death of the following young men namely Geofrey Onyango, Julius Kiochumba and Geofrey Rotich with scores of others nursing serious injuries.
It was established that the Chief Magistrate’s Court at Kapsabet Law Courts acknowledges befire it the arrest and arraignment of ten (10) suspects and a miscellaneous application file No: E013/2023 in their custody on February 7, 2023 where the court granted the investigating officer fourteen (14) days to hold the suspects in custody pending further investigations into the deadly blast. It was also noted that due to the nature and the magnitude of the investigation, the case was taken up by the DCI investigators from the HeadQuarters in Nairobi who upon the completion of their investigations made a recommendation of a charge of murder against the suspects.
The LSK confirms a duplicate file was also forwarded to the office of the ODPP in Nairobi for perusal, direction and further action in court.
” The LSK therefore seeks answers to this pertinent issues” said the LSK President in a press conference in his office. He said that the LSK now demands for answers about the actual position of the DCI file about the investigations which were made and what was the recommendations and the charges referred against the suspects.
” We want to know the current position of the file that was forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and why it has taken too long to charge the suspects” Mr Theuri said.
He added; ” We call upon the authorities to move with speed and wr hive them seven (7) days to act and provide answers failure to which, we as the LSK, we’ll be copelled to explore other options of law to compel the government to act in the best interest of the victims”.
The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) and the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) endeavours to promote human rights to ensure that justice is served to all.