Written by Joyce Nzomo
A government witness has dismissed claims that the Kianjokoma brothers, Benson Njiru Ndwiga and Emmanuel Mutura Ndwiga, died after leaping from a moving police vehicle.
The two brothers lost their lives on August 1, 2021, at Kianjokoma Trading Centre in Embu while heading home during the COVID-19 curfew enforcement. Their deaths sparked public outrage, with initial police reports suggesting they had jumped from a patrol vehicle after being arrested.
Appearing before Lady Justice Margaret Muigai at the Milimani Law Courts, the witness told the court that post-mortem findings showed the cause of death was severe head injuries resulting from blunt force trauma, not a fall from a vehicle.
The court heard that both brothers sustained multiple fractures, including broken jaws, extensive skull damage, and deep brain lacerations. Their faces and arms were also bruised.
According to the testimony, such injuries were inconsistent with falling from a moving vehicle, since in such cases, impact injuries are usually concentrated on a single point of the body, often the limbs. Instead, the brothers had “global injuries” spread across the head and face.
The witness also revealed that when the matter was first recorded, the deaths had been classified as road traffic accidents.
