Dead men tell no tales..maybe that is why so many witnesses and other people connected with the Ouko case have died in a manner and at a rate that left many Kenyans marvelling at the chilling coincidences. The timing, frequency and secrecy surrounding these deaths are not only dubious, they also occurred at a "convenient" time. As Mr Jonah Anguka, a former Nakuru DC who spent more than 1,000 days in police custody after being charged with the former foreign minister's death puts it in his book, Absolute Power: The Ouko Murder Mystery, the deaths were not only "convenient" they were used to instil fear in the minds of potential witnesses. Mysterious deaths or death threats were not only limited to witnesses. Judicial officers at the Ouko Commission of Inquiry also received threats especially towards the end of the commission's life. John Evans Gicheru, Richard Otieno Kwach and Akilano Akiwumi had to issue a statement condemning the arrest of Mr George Oraro, who represented Dr Ouko's family during the inquiry. The judges also complained of their rooms being bugged and their telephones tapped by the Special Branch on orders from people they did not know. Is it a coincidence that on the same day President Moi unceremoniously dissolved the Ouko Commission of Inquiry, one of the commissioners had reportedly been targeted for assassination as a means of terminating the proceedings prematurely? Despite the judges issuing an official statement on the matter, Attorney-General Amos Wako did nothing and the complaint went uninvestigated. There is a thin line between coincidence and conspiracy in the deaths of the following:
Mohammed Aslam: The 55-year-old chairman of the Pan African group of companies which included Pan African Bank, Pan African Credit Finance Company and Corporate Insurance Limited. He was taken to Nairobi Hospital on a Friday complaining of dizziness and general fatigue and died two days later. Just before he was admitted to the hospital, Aslam had featured prominently in allegations made before the commission about corruption. He was due to appear before the commission to rebut these allegations and it was expected that he would reveal information about high level corruption and even name those involved. Eight days after his death, President Moi dissolved the commission.
Oidho Agalo: Son of Zablon Agalo Obonyo, the elderly administration police guard attached to Ouko's Koru home. Oidho, a worker at Dr Ouko's farm, died "quietly" at Nyalenda estate in Kisumu before he was called to testify about the events of the night Ouko disappeared.
Otieno Gor: Saw Minister hours before he disappeared. He also died in mysterious circumstances.
Martin Ochanda: Was attached to the Kisumu special branch office and was a friend of the minister. After Ouko's death, Ochanda was transferred to Nairobi and in December 1991, he fell sick and died a few days later after a "short illness."
Pius Omollo Ngwaye: Jonah Anguka's personal bodyguard for almost five years. Soon after Anguka's arrest, Omollo was also arrested and detained by police. Anguka met with his bodyguard at the CID headquarters where they were both undergoing interrogation. "He was in a deplorable state with blood red eyes and was trembling," Anguka recalls in his book. Omollo died after his release from police.
Joseph Otieno Yogo: Plump and gregarious, he was Ouko's driver cum security guard. Drove Ouko from Nairobi to Kisumu on February 5 and later returned to Nairobi to fetch Mrs Christabel Ouko. In June 1992, Yogo died at the Mater Misericordiae Hospital in Nairobi following a "short illness."
Joseph Mbogo: A superintendent of police who participated in the Ouko investigation and later joined the commission of inquiry. He died, mysteriously and was buried with no fanfare. Cause of death remains unknown.
Paul Shikuku: The 16-year-old herdsboy who first saw the charred remains of Ouko burning at the foothills of Got Alila. He disappeared mysteriously before testifying at the commission and his whereabouts are unknown todate.
James Eric Onyango: A relative and confidant of the late minister and who was among the people that he talked to on phone on the night he disappeared. Onyango has since died mysteriously.
Hezekiah Nelson Oyugi Ogango: Long-time permanent secretary in the Office of the President in charge if provincial administration and internal security. He was named as one of the principal suspects in the Ouko murder. He died of a brain ailment after his release from custody.
Masinde Muliro: A day before Oyugi's body was brought home from London, Forum for the Restoration of Democracy founder member and vice chairman Masinde Muliro travelled to and from the United Kingdom. Cabinet Minister Nicholas Biwott was on the same flight. Muliro reportedly met with a former police officer George Wajackoyah who had made sensational allegations over the Ouko murder. Muliro returned home on August 14,1992 aboard a British Airways flight from London. He collapsed and died as he cleared at the customs. Also dead are Interpol's Nehemiah Shikuku Obati, who interrogated Biwott and Oyugi, Justice Fidahussein Abdullah, who tried Mr Anguka, former Police Commissioner Philip Kilonzo and Dr Ouko's mother, Susan Aloo Seda, among others.
Philip Rodi Ouko:gate-keeper cum storeman. He recorded 25 statements within a two and a half year period. Although he was quite categorical that he did not see Mr Anguka and Mr Oyugi at the minister's home on the night prior to his departure, subsequent statements produced in court indicated that he had seen the two men there. He was taken to the scene by the police where he identified the body. He even identified exhibits at the scene but did not talk of seeing anyone at the home. he never came forward to state that he had seen these people despite the Sh1 million reward offered by the government, He testified before the commission of a month and did not divulge this information. However on July 27,1992 the police drove 500 kilometres and got him to record a statement at the CID headquarters, Rodi recorded a statement in which he claimed that Ouko had told him he expected Anguka and Oyugi at his home that evening.
Rodi was the only witness who, while giving evidence during the Anguka trial was bought clothes by the government as well as being transported to and from his Bondo home. He was also given a job as a subordinate staff member at the National Social Security Fund at a time when the government was re-structure the civil service in a bid to cut down on their numbers. Instead of starting out at the bottom of the grade, Rodi started out at the top with a salary scale of Sh1,212 and a Sh1,000 house allowance. He allegedly absconded from work after details of his employment were made public during the Anguka trial.
Selina Were Ndalo; the elderly househelp who was among the last to see Dr Ouko alive and who remembers seeing a "white car" on a road from the driveway leading to the Minister's Koru home. She is still an employee of the Ouko family and hopes that she will know how he was lured from home and killed. Selina, has remained close mouthed tightlipped about the incident.
Coporal Charles Nzomo, with 22 years experience posted to Koru police station on February 16,1990.he was in charge of ussuing and receiving firearms to the policemen attached to the station. Coincidentally, this was the same period when Ouko was home. Subsequent to the minister's disappearance, Cpl Nzomo stopped handling the guns and ammunition., Is it a coincidence that the gun and ammunition that killed the Minister was never found?
His actions on February 12 were also suspect. He is reported to have gone to man a road block single handedly.This coincided with Mrs Ouko's departure for Nairobi leaving her husband without any means of transportation.
Cpl Nzomo and a police constable Jerphither Ndambiri went on a foot patrol assignment instead of joining the search for the minister following a report that he had gone missing. According to their statements to the New Scotland Yard investigation team, the two policemen stated they had found the Minister's body on February 16. However, it was not until february 16, 1990 that the police publicly announced the finding, Was it a coincidence or were they part of a conspiracy to hide the truth about the circumstances of the Minister's death.
Inspector Wilson Kariithi: The officer commanding the Koru police station who on February 13, 1990 after the Minister disappeared drove to Muhoroni where he called the Minister's house from a public call box. The call was to allegedly check on the Minister's security.Unable to get through since the phone was out of order, Insp Kariithi reported the problem to the Post office telephone engineers before driving back to Koru. Strange enough, he did not enter the minister's home notwithstanding that his trip to and from Muhoroni took him just past the gate. Why would he use a public call box and yet he had a working phone in his Koru office, another one at the Muhoroni police station. And why didn't he follow up on his report to the Post office? Incidentally, the Koru Occurence Book did not record any report of the missing minister or the search that was going on for him. As far as the occurence book was concerned, all was well in the Koru police area of jurisdiction. Strange enough, the only record about Dr Ouko was made on February 13, 1990 and indicated that his body had been found about four kilometres from his home with a bullet in the head and partially burnt. The inquest Register's entry for February 13,1990 records that the body was flown to the city mortuary on 17th February 1990.
Senior Superitendent Humprey Kariuki: He was the senior most officer to arrive at the scene of crime. Equipped with a scenes of crime kit, three still cameras and a video camera, Supt Kariuki flew into Koru from Nairobi and took charge of the scene. Despite his presence, there was little or no effort to preserve the scene and most of the exhibits were handled by many of the people allowed to the scene. The handling of the exhibits not only contaminated them but also the site greatly diminishing their evidential value. It is therefore not strange that none of the exhibits had fingerprtints of Selina or Rodi both of whom admitted to having handled them.Video and still photographs taken by Chesire and Kariuki do not show the presence of the 38 Smith and Wesson gun which was licensed to the Minister and which was allegedlty found on the right hand side of his head.
None of the policemen who discovered the body saw the gun and this was corroborated by the video and still photographs taken of the scene before the body was removed. Workers at the Minister's farm say they saw him with the gun the night he went missing. Yet the police did not see it there when they found the body. It would be interesting to find out who planted the gun at the site, long after the body and other exhibits were found. Who could have got it from the Minister and why would he/she/they have taken it? Interestingly enough, the bullets allegedly found at the scene of the murder were different from those test-fired from the gun found at the scene but coincidentally matched those of the police-issue gun that Supt Kariuki carried. Following the Ouko commission and subsequent trials, Supt Kariuki was promoted to assistant commissioner of police and made the officer in charge of crime scenes in Kenya.
