Kenyans are rarely averse to a good dose of sarcasm on social media. They are once again getting creative with the latest twist in a shocking story surrounding alleged Kenyan serial killer Collins Jumaisi, who managed to escape from a police cell this week. For example, the poster for a TV series was widely posted on social media. Prison break shared, with the head of the alleged fugitive serial killer photoshopped.
The ‘category’ mentioned on the poster – being ‘fiction, comedy, tragedy and thriller’ – was telling. Many Kenyans no longer believe anything the police or judiciary report on this case. “@WilliamsRuto – We know your game,” even Kenyan Humprey Masheti writes alongside the poster in X, implying that President William Ruto is personally behind the man’s arrest and escape. It represents the now massive breach of trust between the majority of Kenyans and their government.
But let’s go back to how this case began last July. Body parts of at least nine people were found wrapped in plastic in the Kware slum in Nairobi. An interesting detail: the location, a former quarry now serving as a garbage dump, was just a hundred metres from a police station.
Many Kenyans immediately made the link to the then-called “GenZ” protests by teenagers and people in their twenties against the government. Police cracked down and an undetermined number of protesters were abducted, several of whom remain missing. Kenyans active on social media, including well-known activist Boniface Mwangi, suggested that the bodies found were of protesters killed by security personnel.
However, to everyone’s surprise, within three days the police arrested a suspect they labelled a “serial killer”. During a live press conference, the police announced that frail Kenyan Collins Jumaisi, 33, had confessed to killing 42 women, including his wife. However, his body was never found.
Criminal Investigation Directorate chief Amin Mohamed did not consider it necessary to wait for further investigations or a trial, but concluded during the press conference: “It is increasingly clear that we are dealing with a serial killer, a psychopathic serial killer who has no respect for human life.”
A day after the press conference, Jumaisi’s lawyer claimed that his client was innocent and that his confession had been obtained through torture. Many Kenyans on social media questioned the information presented by the police. Many wondered how the officers went unnoticed when the bodies were dumped in a garbage dump just 100 metres from a police station. They also wondered how they could have killed 42 people in two years without the police noticing. And although the officers had not suspected anything for so long, now, less than three days after the bodies were discovered, someone could be arrested.
Kenya’s independent police watchdog (IPOA) was also sceptical. The watchdog has launched an investigation to determine whether the police themselves were involved in the killings. “This follows widespread previous allegations of police involvement in unlawful arrests and abductions,” IPOA said.
According to police, all the victims were women between the ages of 18 and 30. The government pathologist who conducted the autopsies concluded that some of the bodies were too decomposed to determine the cause of death. One of the victims was identified by relatives as Roselyne Akoth Ogongo, 24. She had moved from the countryside to the Kware slum three months earlier and had been missing since June 28.
Last week, the judge gave detectives a week to investigate, after which the suspect had to be officially charged. But to everyone’s surprise, police announced on Tuesday morning that the alleged serial killer had escaped, along with twelve Eritrean migrants who were being held illegally in Kenya.
The 13 were able to escape by cutting through a roof mesh, police said. According to Inspector Gilbert Masengeli, the fugitives probably received help “from within.” Five police officers were arrested but released on bail. Police have also made available an undisclosed cash reward for tips leading to Jumaisi’s arrest.
Meanwhile, Kenyans on social media are speculating on how this bizarre story will play out. Many say they will not be surprised if Jumaisi is found dead in the coming days, so that the truth never comes out. Kenya has a long history of extrajudicial killings and disappearances, with cases rarely solved. The police are also known to be sensitive to corruption, meaning suspects regularly manage to buy their way out.
Other Kenyans took to social media to share photographs of police officers firing live ammunition at protesters during the June protests, saying “these are the real criminals that justice should arrest, instead of Collins Jumaisi.” President Ruto had previously promised that the officers would be prosecuted for the excessive crackdown on protesters, but so far no one has been arrested for this. As a result, many Kenyans have also lost confidence in their government.
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