Seventeen officers from the disbanded Special Services Unit, National Intelligence Service (NIS) and the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) were Thursday charged with the murder of a Kenyan and two Indian nationals two years ago.

The officers who appeared before the High Court in Kiambu were said to have killed Zulfiqar Ahmed Kidwai Khan and Mohammed Zaid Sami, and their taxi driver Nicodemus Mwania Mwange.

Those charged are Chief Inspector Peter Muthee Gachiku, James Kibosek Tanki, Joseph Kamau Mbugua, Simon Muhuga Gikenyo, David Chepchieng Kinsei, Stephen Luseno Matunda, John Mwangi Kamau, Paul Njogu Muriithi, Hillary Limo Kipchumba, and Joseph Mwenda Mbaya.

Others are Simon Muhuga Gikenyo, Paul Njogu Muriithi, Boniface Otieno Mtulla, Elikana Njeru Mugendi, Fredrick Thuku Kamau, John Wanjiku Macharia (NIS) and Michael Kiplangat Bett (KWS).

They allegedly committed the crime along Mombasa Road on the night of July 22 and July 23, 2022.

The murder charges are an escalation of 13 charges pressed against them before the Kahawa Magistrate’s court. It was alleged that the nine officers in the defunct special DCI unit intercepted the vehicle Mwania was driving and bundled the three into another vehicle. They allegedly held them at the Old Nairobi Area police headquarters before the three disappeared.

They are also accused of subjecting the three to inhumane and degrading treatment.

Muthee faces a separate count of forgery. It was claimed he forged a vehicle work ticket for July, last year.

However, the prosecution told the court that the State had decided to release Francis Mwendo Ndonye unconditionally after investigations vindicated him.

During the hearing at Kahawa, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions gave the court a chronology of events, noting the incidents were well-planned and executed with enormous resources utilised.

The prosecution detailed how the victims were trailed by officers from the defunct unit, assisted by their NIS counterparts, through mobile phones. The team was facilitated by the KWS officers to dispose of the bodies, which have never been recovered, in the Aberdares National Park in Nyeri County. 

The case will be mentioned on March 20, 2025.