Saboti MP Caleb Amisi has come to the defence of the embattled acting Inspector General of Police Gilbert Masengeli who was sentenced to serve six months in prison following his conviction on contempt of court charges.
Speaking during a youth meeting at his home in Matisi, Saboti sub-County, the ODM party MP said Massengeli was being dragged into the politics between President William Ruto and his Deputy and that the former IG Japhet Koome should be the one being questioned.
“Masengeli cannot be a sacrificial lamb for mistakes that were made by the past regime of police,” Amisi said.
He added that Masengeli was a decent police officer with a good head above his shoulders
“We schooled together with Masengeli at one point, he is an educated man with a Master’s degree; he won’t be like any ordinary policeman,” Amisi noted.
Masengeli was on Friday, September 13, 2024, sentenced to serve six months in prison after he snubbed summonses by the High Court.
Masengeli’s seven summonses
The acting Inspector General was handed the penalty after failing a record seven times to appear in court to shed light on the disappearance of Robert Bob Njagi – an activist and brothers Jamil and Aslam Longton who were abducted one month ago by individuals suspected to be police officers.
During the entire period of the summonses, Masengeli attended to his duties as usual, even making time to attend the Mombasa ASK show.
It is this that irked the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) which pleaded with the presiding Judge Lawrence Mugambi to stamp the court’s authority and punish Masengeli.
Masengeli’s lawyer Cecil Miller, however, argued that the acting IG was engaged in matters of national security importance during the course of the summonses.
Justice Mugambi directed that should Masengeli fail to present himself to the Commissioner General of Prisons to serve his sentence, the Ministry of Interior must ensure he fully serves his sentence.
Masengeli took over in an acting capacity for Douglas Kanja who is a step away from assuming office after the Senate gave him a thumbs up in August.
However, the issues over which Masengeli was summonsed to the court happened during his stint as the acting inspector general of police in the country.
