Mourners carry a casket of baby Samantha Pendo. [Photo| Nation]
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Keriako Tobiko has ordered an inquest into the killings of Baby Samantha Pendo and Stephanie Moraa during the August 8 post election demonstrations in Kisumu and Nairobi. Tobiko directed the parents of baby Samantha and Moraa to seek civil proceedings against the National Police Service Commission (NPSC) should the commission refuse to compensate them for the unlawful use of force by officers on the deceased. “The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) carried out investigations into the above mentioned incident and from the evidence gathered it is not able to identify the particular officer(s) who shot and caused the death of Stephanie Moraa Gesamba and Samantha Pendo,” Tobiko said in a statement, Wednesday. “IPOA however concluded that the commanders, namely Titus Yoma County Commander Kisumu County, SSP Christopher Mutune OCPD Kisumu East, SSP Benjamin Kosgei DACP Kisumu Central and John Thiringi who were in charge of the affected areas were negligent on August 12 resulting into the death of Samantha Pendo,” the statement added. Baby Pendo, six-month-old, died on August 15 at Aga Khan Hospital after she was critically injured on the head by armed police officers who raided her parents’ house in Nyalenda, Kisumu County.Stephanie, an eight-year-old girl, passed on on August 12 after being hit by a stray bullet while playing in their rental house in Mathare North Area 2, Nairobi during an operation to restore calm in the area following protests that erupted after President Uhuru Kenyatta was declared winner.