'I won't be silenced': KDF officer alleges cover-up after KFS linked to Sh700,000 home raid

On September 30, 2022, Johana Kiptoo, a Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) officer, was on duty when he received a call informing him that his home in Eldama Ravine had been broken into.

He said upon receiving information from his neighbours and caretakers, he left work that evening and travelled home to confirm what had happened.

Upon arrival, Kiptoo learnt that those who broke into his home and damaged and stole his property, valued at over Sh700,000, were Kenya Forest Service (KFS) officers.

He lodged a complaint at the Timboroa Police Station, and the officer commanding the station assigned his officers to commence investigations. The officers visited the scene and verified the incident.

Upon completion of the investigations, it was established that Nelson Ayodi, Erick Obare, Willy Mutai, Richard Kirui, and Charles Masai, all KFS officers, were involved.

A prosecution file was prepared and forwarded to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) in Eldama Ravine for perusal and approval.

The DPP, on February 8, 2023, having perused the file, said there was sufficient evidence to prefer charges against the five KFS officers. It was after this day, he claims, that his frustration started.

Even with the recommendations to prosecute the officers, the ODPP, Eldama Ravine, became unreasonably sluggish, and no action was ever taken against them.

Kiptoo has since filed a suit at the High Court in Kabarnet seeking orders to have the KFS arraigned. In the suit, he has named the OCS Timboroa Police Station, the Chief Conservator of Forests, and the Director of Public Prosecutions. The five KFS officers have been named as interested parties in the case.

The KDF officer, in the petition, stated that he wrote to the ODPP in March 2023 seeking to have the issue addressed.

“In a glaring display of abuse of office and acting ultra vires, the Chief Conservator of Forests, through their Baringo County office, vide a letter dated 16 April 2023, wrote to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations office seeking five days to consider availing the interested parties for arraignment before court, citing non-existent administrative reasons,” read the suit in part.

The letter by the Chief Conservator of Forests, he said, was meant to derail justice.

The office of the Attorney General, Nakuru, vide a letter dated April 17, 2023, allegedly directed the OCS, Timboroa Police Station, to defy the directive of the DPP to conduct an inquiry before charging and prosecuting the KFS officers.

“The OCS, without any justifiable cause, unreasonably declined to honour the directive of the DPP and instead chose to comply with the unlawful directions from the office of the Attorney General with the sole intention of standing in the way of justice and in collusion with the officers,” read the suit in part.

Kiptoo said he has since received threats from the OCS. The OCS, as per the suit, he said, told Kiptoo that he cannot direct him on what to do and is holding his ground that he shall never realise justice as long as Mr Robert Kitalia is in office as the OCS of the Timboroa Police Station.

“The ex parte applicant (Kiptoo) herein has on numerous occasions received threats of physical violence through mobile phone calls from individuals he believes to be the interested parties herein and officers of the 1st respondent (OCS Timboroa Police Station) on instructions of their bosses, putting him on notice that unless he drops his claims against them, he shall not live to see the justice he is keenly following up on,” further read the suit.

The OCS and the Chief Conservator of Forests, he stated, in a scheme to protect KFS officers from facing the charges approved by the DPP, have colluded to deny Kiptoo access to justice.

He noted that following active follow-ups on the case, the DPP issued directions to the OCS on January 8, 2025, to arrest and present the officers before the court. Following the directive, the Chief Conservator transferred all the suspected officers at once.

The Chief Conservator of Forests, according to Kiptoo, has remained adamant that they cannot avail the suspects before the court until the DPP reviews the directive to have them charged and fresh investigations are undertaken.

Determined to have justice served, Kiptoo wrote to the OCS and the DPP on May 15, 2025, seeking to have the KFS officers arrested and charged. He said the OCS, on May 21, 2025, through a letter, claimed the DPP had recalled the file for further review, a fact he knew was false.

In a glaring contrast, the DPP, on May 23, 2025, confirmed that the file had been perused and directives given that the interested parties be arrested and arraigned before court, adding that the OCS was the custodian of the file and further that they were ready and willing to prosecute the matter upon arrest and arraignment by the OCS.

Kiptoo said the OCS has now resorted to direct threats and has assigned his officers to gain entry into his homestead and arrest his family members to silence him.

The case will be mentioned on July 29, 2025.