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Call records presented in court have placed police officer Isaiah Murangiri in Nairobi’s Central Business District during June anti- finance bill protests contrary to his testimony that he had stopped using the number a year earlier.
Appearing before Principal Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo,Safaricom senior manager Zachary Kirogoi Mburu told Milimani Law Courts that the firm released data for three phone numbers linked to Murangiri, Benson Kamau and Michael Oginga Okello after receiving two production orders.
According to Mburu, the logs showed the lines were active between June 18 and 20, 2024, with signals bouncing off masts in different parts of the CBD including Kencom, Accra House, Wincer House, St. Ellis, KBC Towers and Hill Town.
He explained that the network automatically connects to the nearest available mast within a coverage area of roughly five kilometres.
“It is possible for a subscriber to remain in one spot, yet different masts will still capture the signal,” he said.
Prosecutors argued the records weakened Murangiri’s defence and tied him directly to the city centre during the period under investigation.
The hearing also featured evidence from a forensic ballistics expert. Senior Superintendent Alex Mudindi Mwandawiro of the DCI said the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) submitted a damaged copper bullet jacket for testing on July 1, 2024.
Mwandawiro identified the 0.83-gram fragment as part of a 5.56mm rifle round that had struck a hard object, leaving the core missing. When compared with several firearms presented for analysis, including three pistols from the DCI armoury, no match was established.
He added that the Ceska F7226 pistol mentioned in IPOA’s documents was not among the weapons provided. Rifles commonly issued to police and wildlife rangers such as Chalbi models and AK-101s were also ruled out since they use different calibres.
Mwandawiro concluded that the analysis was inconclusive as the bullet fragment did not correspond with any of the tested firearms.
“The findings were inconclusive because the firearms supplied were of different calibres, and the bullet jacket did not match any of the pistols presented,” he said.
The case will be mentioned again on September 25, 2025, when more witnesses are expected.
The case stems from the ongoing inquest into the death of Rex Masai, a protester who was shot dead along Moi Avenue during anti-finance bill demonstrations in June 2024.
Corporal Isaiah Murangiri, alongside other officers, has been mentioned in connection with the incident, with investigators relying on mobile data, ballistic tests and eyewitness accounts to piece together events of that day.
