1y0aYIa

phone.” 131 A magistrate confirmed that the acquittal was the result of “shoddyinvestigations.” 132All three suspects were acquitted in September 2008. The magistrate ruled that of the 16witnesses produced by the prosecution, none of them produced evidence linking theaccused to the deaths of Omolo and Wafula. She faulted the prosecution for bringing thematter to court without carrying out proper investigations. 1335. Republic v. Francis Kipn’geno and Others: The Killing of Administration Police OfficerHassan Omar Dado 134On January 31, 2008, a mob attacked the administrative and police offices in Ainamoi, asmall town outside of Kericho. The attack immediately followed news of the killing ofAinamoi Member of Parliament David Too, shot in Eldoret the same day in an incidentwrongly interpreted by Too’s supporters as an election-related assassination. 135The initial motive of the attackers, according to a lawyer familiar with the case, may havebeen to steal guns from the armory located within the district offices. However, policeresponded by firing on the crowd, killing at least one member of the mob and injuringothers. 136 In response, the mob set upon an Administration Police officer at the scene,Hassan Omar Dado. They chopped him to pieces with machetes and torched his remains,leaving his body burned beyond recognition. 137 The attackers also injured another policeofficer, Paul Chumo, and the local chief, Richard Bett. They burned down the district office,damaged other administration buildings, and stole one firearm from Chumo.Suspects were arrested on February 6. According to a lawyer, police simply rounded upthose who were hospitalized after being shot during the confrontation. They were chargedwith robbery with violence, although, as in the case above, a murder charge may have beenmore appropriate and may have allowed for a stronger prosecution. When the case went to131 Human Rights Watch interview with a lawyer, Eldoret, May 27, 2011.132 Human Rights Watch interview with a judicial official, Eldoret, May 24, 2011.133 Article reproduced on the website of Mars Group, a Kenyan organization, untitled and undated,http://www.marsgroupkenya.org/multimedia/cache/cache_c21f969b5f03d33d43e04f8f136e7682_288ac3476540ab94152fdbc0ccb02662 (accessed November 2, 2011).134 Republic v. Francis Kipn’geno and Others, Kericho Magistrate’s Court, CR 86/08. Case file consulted by Human RightsWatch, Kericho, May 13, 2011.135 Human Rights Watch interview with a lawyer, Kericho, August 24, 2011.136 Sollo Kiragu, Cosmas Butunyi, Barnabas Bii and Kennedy Masibo, “Ten die in protests over shooting of Ainamoi MP,”Daily Nation (Nairobi), February 4, 2008, http://allafrica.com/stories/200802040114.html (accessed November 2, 2011);“Lynch mob hacks Kenyan policeman to death,” The Times Online, February 2, 2008,http://updatesonkenya.blogspot.com/2008/02/breaking-news-progress-on-peace-talks.html (accessed November 2, 2011).137 Republic v. Francis Kipn’geno and Others.“TURNING PEBBLES” 36