PC Rashid Charo, a bodyguard attached to the Office of the Principal Secretary for Youth Affairs, Creative Economy and Sports Fikirini Jacobs, was released on a personal bond of Ksh. 20,000. Investigators told the court that they needed additional time to complete inquiries into the fatal shooting of a youth mobilizer in Kariokor.
The case was heard before the Makadara Law Courts, where Resident Magistrate J. Mayiah, presiding virtually, ordered that the matter be mentioned again on August 10 for further directions.
During the hearing, Charo’s legal team secured his release from custody, along with the return of his personal effects, including his service firearm.
Charo was arrested last week and formally arraigned on July 2, several days after the shooting that has raised public tension in Kariokor and its surrounding areas. He remains under investigation in connection with the death of Cecil Otieno Ouma, who was fatally shot inside a vehicle linked to Principal Secretary Jacobs along Park Road.
Police said the incident happened on June 30 at about 1 p.m., after PS Jacobs attended a function at Social Hall in Kariokor. As Charo and No. 251661 PC Peter Keter escorted Jacobs’s departure from the venue, youths reportedly confronted Charo and demanded money.
Investigators allege that Cecil Ouma boarded the principal secretary’s official Land Cruiser, registration number GKC 526C. They said the driver then sped off toward Pangani Police Station after members of the public pursued the vehicle on foot and by motorcycle.
During the chaos that followed, the crowd threw stones at the vehicle. Charo then fired his firearm, fatally injuring Cecil. Well-wishers rushed him to Park Road Nursing Home, where doctors pronounced him dead while he was still undergoing treatment.
The incident was reported at Pangani Police Station, and detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Starehe Sub-County took over the probe. Charo was later arrested at Muthaiga Police Station after he recorded a statement at the DCI Nairobi North Sub-Region offices.
In an earlier application, prosecutors asked the court to detain Charo for seven days at Pangani Police Station so investigators could complete a series of pending steps. These included a postmortem examination to determine the exact cause of Cecil’s death, ballistic and forensic analysis of the firearm and other recovered exhibits, the taking of witness statements, and a reconstruction of the scene to establish how events unfolded.
Prosecutors also argued that releasing Charo before investigators finished could put him at risk, given the tension the shooting sparked in the area. They further asked the court to compile the investigation file for submission to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for further directions.
