Written by Were Kelly
Nairobi, Kenya – June 9, 2025
Former Kamukunji Officer Commanding Station (OCS) Chief Inspector Robert Mugo has denied any involvement in the death of Rex Maasai during the 2023 anti-government demonstrations, commonly referred to as maandamano, that gripped parts of Nairobi and left several people dead.
Testifying on Monday before a Nairobi court in the ongoing inquest into Maasai’s death, Mugo asserted that no officers under his command were responsible for the fatal shooting of the young protester. He maintained that while the protests turned chaotic, officers acted within the confines of the law.
“The individuals we encountered were not peaceful demonstrators but criminals engaging in looting,” Mugo told the court, defending the police’s response on that day.
According to Mugo, approximately 60 officers were deployed under his direct command to the lower Central Business District (CBD) on the day of the protest. He claimed none of them were armed with live firearms, but were instead equipped with teargas canisters and batons (rungus) for crowd control.
“There was no killing under my jurisdiction in the lower CBD. No reports have been made about civilian injuries from our operations,” he stated.
Mugo also clarified that while he commanded about 300 officers at the Kamukunji station, only a specific contingent was sent to the lower CBD during the protests. He emphasized that all deployed officers were in uniform and none operated in civilian clothing.
Other officers who have testified in the inquest echoed Mugo’s claims, asserting that the protests had been infiltrated by criminal elements, and that police were responding to looting and threats to public safety—not peaceful demonstrations.
The former OCS further pointed to coordination challenges once the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) were brought in to assist with security operations.
“We received direct orders from Madam Dorris to secure the lower CBD. After the KDF joined in, there was no operational coordination between our teams,” he said.
