The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has withdrawn murder charges against 15 former Special Service Unit (SSU) officers who had been accused of the abduction and disappearance of two Indian nationals and their Kenyan taxi driver in 2022.
In a Nolle Prosequi filed before the High Court in Kiambu, the DPP terminated the murder case against the officers, bringing to a halt proceedings that had stemmed from the disappearance of Indian nationals Zulfiqar Ahmed Khan and Mohammed Zaid Sami, together with their taxi driver Nicodemus Mwania Mwange.
The three disappeared between July 22 and July 23, 2022, in Nairobi. Following investigations, then DPP Renson Ingonga approved murder charges against 15 officers drawn from the disbanded Special Service Unit and other security agencies.
The officers included Peter Muthee Gachiko, James Kibosek Tanki, Joseph Mbugua Kamau, David Chepchieng Kipsoi, Joseph Mwenda Mbaya, John Mwangi Kamau, Hillary Kipchumba, Stephen Luseno Matunda, Simon Muhuga Gikonyo, Paul Njogu Muriithi, Boniface Otieno Mtulla, Elikana Njeru Mugendi and Fredrick Thuku Kamau, among others. They had initially been arraigned at the Kahawa Law Courts before the matter was transferred to the High Court in Kiambu for trial on murder charges.
According to the chargesheet, Muthee, Kamau, Chepcheng, Luseno and Muhuga forcefully ejected and bundled them in another vehicle before subjecting them to confinement at Old Nairobi Area police headquarters SSU offices in Upper Hill without regard to their lives and security and ultimately causing their enforced disappearance. It was also alleged that being public servants in the defunct special services unit (SSU), DCI, NIS, and KWS, they cooperated in the execution of the cruel treatment of Mohammed Khan and Mwange thereby causing their enforced disappearance.
However, in a notice dated June 19, 2026, the DPP invoked powers under Article 157(6) of the Constitution and Sections 82 and 83 of the Criminal Procedure Code and informed the court that the proceedings against all 15 accused persons would not continue. The notice states that the murder proceedings against the officers “shall not continue henceforth.”
The withdrawal through a Nolle Prosequi does not amount to an acquittal and leaves open the possibility of fresh proceedings should the prosecution decide to reinstitute the charges in future.
