The officer in charge of the Central Police Station’s armoury on Monday declined to have the arms movement register surrendered to the court as an exhibit in the Rex Masai death inquest.

In a decision backed by the National Police Service Commission’s (NPSC) lawyer Elias Ouma, Fredrick Okapesi claimed that he could only have the crucial document in the case if he went through it to ascertain that the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) had not made alterations.

The Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), through prosecutor Jalson Makori, told the court that he wished the officer to produce the record. 

According to Makori, there was also no indication that the register was required in another court for other cases. However, the officer was emphatic that he would not produce it.

Ouma backed the officer, saying the law was clear that the custodian of the arms movement register was the commission and not any other agency.

He said he was concerned that alterations could be made on the register if was not in the hands of the police.

Even with the Milimani Principal Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo overruling Okapesi and Ouma and giving assurance that since the document had been used as evidence, it would remain a property of the court and in safe custody, the lawyer insisted the officer had not agreed to that.

“The witness did not acquiesce to the issue of production. We ask that it should be indicated,” said Ouma.

Okapesi was in court to testify on changes he had made on the register by writing the name of an officer who was handed a firearm after using a white-out to clear the name he had initially written.

He explained that it was an error which he had sought to rectify and that he discovered that he had left some gaps that needed filling.

The officer had used a whiteout to erase Martin Githinji’s name and wrote the name Simon Waweru on top of the whiteout. However, he retained Githinji’s signature, an alteration he claimed was an omission.

He stressed that he would not have allowed Githinji to leave with the gun if he knew that the officer had not signed the document.

Okapesi claimed the errors and mix-ups in signatures and force numbers were not an attempt to hide the truth.

Masai, 29, died after being shot on June 20 last year during the Finance Bill, 2024, protests.