Armoury officer admits errors in police gun records at Rex Masai inquest
Corporal Fredrick Odera Okapesi, who has overseen the armoury at the station for more than two decades, admitted that records kept during the June 2024 demonstrations contained errors.
The inquest into the killing of 29-year-old protester Rex Kanyike resumed at the Milimani law courts with testimony from a senior police officer in charge of firearms at Central Police Station and a government analyst. Principal Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo presided over the session.
Corporal Fredrick Odera Okapesi, who has overseen the armoury at the station for more than two decades, admitted that records kept during the June 2024 demonstrations contained errors.
He said his role involves documenting the issuance and return of firearms in the arms movement register.
Okapesi told the court that on June 18, 2024, officer Benson Kamau was issued a firearm and later returned it to Corporal Martin Githinji.
He conceded to making alterations and double entries in the register, explaining that some blank spaces were filled in and certain names and signatures overwritten.
While acknowledging the mistakes, he denied any intent to mislead. “It is human to make mistakes, and I am human,” he said. “One or two errors should not make the register inaccurate.”
The officer clarified that although entries once indicated Corporal Isaiah Murangiri had been given a firearm, this was later corrected. According to him, Murangiri only received a teargas canister, not a gun.
During cross-examination, Prosecutor Makori asked: “If Corporal Murangiri was found with a firearm, is it possible that he obtained it from another police station? Is it possible for an officer to be issued with a firearm from a different police station?”
Okapesi replied that such a scenario could only happen with authorisation from a subcounty police commander.
Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) lawyer David Tenge questioned the inconsistencies in the register. “Why is there no consistency when it comes to filling the arms movement registry?” he asked. He pressed further on whether the records had been manipulated to shield officers, adding: “Is it possible that there were errors in the arms movement registry to protect Corporal Isaiah Murangiri?”
Okapesi dismissed claims of a cover-up, maintaining that one officer cannot sign out a firearm on behalf of another. He added that while Murangiri said he was issued only teargas canisters, the registry reflected he had also been given rubber bullets. He explained that teargas canisters are never kept in the armoury because of their volatile nature.
When shown photographs said to depict Murangiri at the protests, Okapesi said he could not confirm. “Unless they are produced physically before me, I cannot identify who is who,” he said, noting that both Murangiri and Kamau are light-skinned.
The court also heard from Henry Kiptoo Sang, a forensic analyst with the Kenya Bureau of Standards in Nairobi. Sang testified that on June 24, 2024, he received exhibits from IPOA for DNA testing, including swab sticks, a soil sample, and a blood sample labeled “Rex Kanyike (deceased).”
Sang confirmed that the blood sample was human and that the swabs produced DNA profiles matching the deceased. However, the soil sample, though stained with blood, was too decomposed to generate a profile. “The soil samples were stained with human blood but were decomposed, making it impossible to generate a DNA profile,” he said. “I prepared an official report, which I submitted to the court as an exhibit.”
The hearing will continue on September 15, 2025. Rex was shot in the thigh along Moi Avenue during the anti-Finance Bill demonstrations in Nairobi on June 20, 2024, and later died from excessive bleeding.
