Mukuru dump: Kenyan police moved after body parts found

Officers from a police station near a dumpsite where dismembered body parts were found have been transferred, Kenya’s acting inspector general of police has said.

On Sunday, Douglas Kanja Kirocho said that so far eight women’s bodies had been recovered from the site in the capital, Nairobi.

Kenya’s police watchdog had earlier announced it was investigating whether police were involved in the horrific deaths, which come amid allegations of widespread human rights abuses by police officers during recent anti-government protests.

Mr Kirocho said officers from Kware Police Station were on the move to ensure “fair and impartial investigations” into the “heinous” deaths.

Detectives have been combing the Mukuru slum site since Friday when the bodies of six women were found in bags floating in a sea of ​​rubbish.

On Saturday, five more bags containing body parts were recovered.

Preliminary reports show that the bodies were in various stages of decomposition and that the deceased were aged between 18 and 30 years old.

Officers said some of the bags contained severed legs and torsos, speculating that the deaths could be linked to the activities of cultists or serial killers.

But the Independent Police Oversight Authority said “widespread allegations of police involvement in unlawful arrests (and) abductions” meant it was undertaking a preliminary investigation to establish whether there was a police connection.

Police have also been accused of abducting or arbitrarily arresting hundreds of other people during the protests.

In response to the bodies found in Mukuru, the Independent Police Oversight Authority said: “The bodies, wrapped in bags and tied with nylon ropes, bore visible marks of torture and mutilation.”

The watchdog also noted that the dump site was less than 100 metres from the Kware police station.

Contrary to the police report, the Independent Police Oversight Authority said nine dismembered bodies were found at the Mukuru dumpsite – seven women and two men.

Mr Kirocho said police were working to conclude their investigation into the deaths “within 21 days”.

The bodies are being kept at a funeral home in Nairobi, awaiting post-mortem examinations.

Local media reported that police deployed two water cannons to the scene on Saturday after angry protesters threatened to open bags filled with human remains.

Officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have urged the public to remain calm and give them the space they need to investigate the findings, accusing protesters of obstructing their investigation.

The gruesome discovery put pressure on President William Ruto, who vowed that those responsible for the killings would be punished.

“We are a democratic country guided by the rule of law. Those involved in the mysterious killings in Nairobi and any other part of the country will be held accountable,” he said in a message on X, formerly Twitter.

The case is the latest worrying incident of its kind to occur in Kenya.

Last year, the country was horrified after the remains of hundreds of people associated with a doomsday cult were discovered in the coastal town of Malindi on the Indian Ocean coast.

Paul Nthenge Mackenzie went on trial in Mombasa earlier this week on charges of terrorism and murder in the deaths of more than 440 of his supporters. He denies the charges.

He allegedly encouraged men, women and children to starve to death in order to “meet Jesus” in one of the world’s worst cult-related massacres.