Key CCTV cameras were offline when Rex Masai was killed

Details have emerged that key CCTV cameras in Nairobi’s Central Business District, including one along Mama Ngina Street, were offline when Rex Masai was killed during the June 2024 Gen Z protests.

The revelation has raised fresh questions over the availability of crucial surveillance footage that could have helped investigators piece together events surrounding the fatal shooting of the 29-year-old.

An ICT expert from the National Police Service has told the Rex Masai inquest that only about 20 per cent of CCTV cameras in Nairobi’s CBD were operational at the time, with the maintenance contract for the system having expired seven years earlier.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Andrews Kipchumba Limo, an Integrated Command, Control and Communication Centre (IC3) technical officer, made the revelations while testifying as prosecution witness number 27 before Milimani Chief Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo.

Led in evidence by State prosecutor Jalson Makori, Limo said he was on duty at the IC3 Centre at the National Police Service headquarters, Jogoo House, on June 18, 19 and 20, 2024, when the country experienced widespread demonstrations over the Finance Bill 2024.

He told the court that his team was responsible for administering the CCTV cameras across Nairobi, but a large proportion of the surveillance network was out of service.

“Most of the cameras in Nairobi were offline on the material days,” Limo said.

He attributed the failure partly to the construction of the Nairobi Expressway, saying fibre-optic cables supporting the cameras had been destroyed during the works.

The cables, he said, had been laid along Uhuru Highway and their destruction significantly affected the police security CCTV network.

“About 20 percent are working,” Limo told the court.

The witness said the problem had persisted for years, revealing that the maintenance contract for the CCTV system expired in 2019.

“The contract for the same ended in 2019 and there are no technicians to repair it,” he said.

Despite the CCTV system being a critical component of Nairobi’s security infrastructure, Limo said he did not know when the maintenance contract would be renewed.

The Expressway construction has since been completed, but the police CCTV network has not returned to full operation, the court heard.

Limo said some cameras were operational during the Gen Z protests, but he could not recall precisely which ones were working on June 20, 2024, when Masai was shot.

He identified several cameras around the CBD that were not operational, including those around Commercial Bank, Kencom, near Heltol Hotel, Kimathi Street and Moi Avenue.

A few cameras, however, were working during the demonstrations, including those around Wiyoma Street and the OTC area.

“We do not have footage of the protests of June 2024, though the demonstrators were all over the CBD and police were all over the city,” Limo told the court.

He specifically confirmed that the IC3 camera installed along Mama Ngina Street was not working on the day Masai died.

State prosecutor Makori questioned him about the camera.

“Is there an IC3 camera along Mama Ngina?” Makori asked.

Limo confirmed that there was one.

“Yes, there is a camera,” he said, adding that “the camera was not working. It was offline.”

The evidence is significant because Mama Ngina Street was among the areas affected by demonstrations on June 20, 2024, when Masai was shot, meaning a functioning camera could potentially have captured events surrounding his death.

Limo said the problem was not confined to the day of Masai’s death, explaining that the cameras had largely remained dysfunctional since 2021 following damage to the fibre network.

The court heard that before the Expressway construction, about 80 per cent of the cameras were operational, but their functionality subsequently dropped to about 20 per cent.

Limo said such a low level of functionality was not unusual from a technical perspective.

Asked whether it was unusual for only about 20 per cent of the cameras to be working, he replied: “It is not unusual.”

The witness further disclosed that police were unable to provide CCTV footage of the June 2024 CBD demonstrations requested by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations after Masai’s death.

He said he received a letter dated July 3, 2024, from DCI Central Police Station requesting CCTV footage of the June 2024 demonstrations.

However, the footage could not be provided because the relevant cameras were either not operational or could not capture and save the recordings.

Limo denied suggestions that the cameras were conveniently taken offline or deliberately switched off whenever demonstrations occurred in the city.

He said police had previously benefited from the CCTV system when a larger proportion of the cameras was operational.

He also told the court that police had resorted to other methods of tackling crime in Nairobi after the CCTV network's functionality dropped below 20 per cent.

Limo further said he did not attend any of the police briefings held at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre by various police bosses ahead of the June 2024 Gen Z protests.

The inquest continues on Wednesday.