Garissa leaders call for speedy investigations into death of taxi driver

Former Garissa Woman Rep Shukran/STEPHEN ASTARIKO 

Former Lagdera MP Mohamed Hire./STEPHEN ASTARIKO 

A row is brewing up in Garissa between a section of leaders, community members and the security officials following the death of a taxi driver earlier Tuesday, December 23, morning under unclear circumstances.

According to the leaders and family members, the deceased, 25-year-old Sheikh Ahmed Omar was allegedly shot dead by officers who were manning a roadblock along the Nunow – Modogashe Road.

However, police say that the victim was involved in a self-accident fleeing off from police on patrol.

Speaking at the Garissa mortuary after viewing the body of the deceased, Garissa Township MP Major (rtd) Dekow Mohamed, who was accompanied by a host of MCAs and community leaders said that they will not allow police to use excessive force on the people.

The leaders questioned why the incident had been reported as a road accident, despite witnesses who were in the vehicle revealing that the deceased was shot at close range by security officers.

“As the leaders from this county, we are saddened by the excesses that the police are carrying out killing and maiming our people. Yesterday we were here, there was another incident in Demajale and today, the same thing has happened,” Mohamed said.

“We suspect that the police units were involved because after the accident all the factors that surround this incident do not add up. This young man of 25 years just lost his life like that. We are past that stage in our country. In our community, we have come from being killed, maimed, butchered, tortured, and raped and in the 21st century, we are not going to allow this to continue,” he added.

The MP further called on the Inspector General Douglas Kanja and the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) to take over the matter and ensure that those involved in the incident are brought to book and to get justice for the family of the deceased.

“We want justice for the family and the people of Garissa County. Let no one think that they will get away with this. We will not entertain these kinds of officers who are using excess force to enforce the law,” he said.

However, according to Garissa county police commander Amos Ambasa, the deceased tried to turn back when he found the roadblock but got into an accident just about 150 metres away.

Ambasa said that the deceased succumbed to the accident injuries while two other passengers, young boys, were left with minimal injuries.

“Today at around midnight, it was reported by police officers who were on patrol along the Nunow – Modogashe Road that there was a vehicle which upon noticing them made a U-turn and sped off. The officers decided to chase after the vehicle to see if they could reach it, only to find it had been involved in an accident just about 150 metres from the roadblock,” Ambasa said.

“The driver was fatally injured and succumbed to his injuries. There were also two boys in the vehicle about the age of 15 who were travelling with the driver.  The traffic officers were informed and responded to the scene, and took the body of the deceased to the mortuary and towed the vehicle to the police station,” he added.

The county police commander said the case has been handed over to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and IPOA to establish if the chase by the officers might have led to the cab driver's death.

Government pathologist is today expected to contact a postmortem to establish the cause of death.