The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions has clarified that no criminal charges had been preferred against two police officers and two civilians who had been linked to alleged cases of robbery, kidnapping, extortion and rape along Thika Road and its environs.
The ODPP says the four suspects were brought before court through a miscellaneous application, but no criminal charges were preferred against them at that stage.
The clarification follows reports that the prosecution had withdrawn a case against the suspects after the main complainant, Cyrus Mwangi Wahongo, indicated that he no longer wished to pursue the matter.
In a statement, the ODPP said the complainant failed to attend an identification parade, which was a critical part of the investigation.
The Office further said evidence forwarded to it for consideration did not meet the evidentiary threshold required to make a decision to charge the suspects.
The suspects are Silas Onyango Okello, an interdicted police officer formerly attached to Kahawa Sukari, Police Constable Oliver Juma Boge, formerly attached to Railways Police Station and interdicted since March 2018, and civilians Job Sidiga and Stephene Okello.
Preliminary investigations had linked the four to alleged incidents of robbery and extortion involving motorists and members of the public in areas including Mwihoko, Thika West, Githurai and Mwiki.
According to investigators, the suspects were allegedly operating a grey Toyota Allion, registration number KCN 371M, which they used to trail their targets before staging arrests and demanding money.
Wahongo had told investigators that he was intercepted by the group, falsely accused of smoking bhang and robbed of Ksh.15,000 shillings.
Investigators had also linked the suspects to a separate robbery reported on September 16, in which 140,000 shillings was allegedly stolen, as well as other reported incidents.
However, the investigation was affected after Wahongo failed to attend the identification parade at Kasarani Police Station.
The ODPP says its decision not to prefer criminal charges was based on the evidence available and the applicable law, and was made independently in accordance with its constitutional mandate under Article 157 of the Constitution.
The Office has also clarified that the decision should not be characterised as an acquittal, since no criminal charges had been preferred against the suspects.
