The quest for justice for Rex Masai, the young protester shot dead during the anti-tax demonstrations, has taken a dramatic twist. The Milimani Law Courts have ordered the immediate impounding of the police firearms movement register after a shocking admission of forgery by the officer in charge.

Senior Principal Magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo directed that the registers be kept in the courts safe custody to prevent further interference. The ruling came after the armory officer, Corporal Fredrick Okapesi, crumbled under cross-examination and admitted to altering the records of the lethal weapons issued on the fateful day.

"I Altered the Records"

In a moment that stunned the court, Okapesi confessed to deleting names, superimposing signatures, and allowing officers to sign for multiple weapons irregularly. "I made the alterations," he told the inquest, though he bizarrely claimed it was "not an attempt to hide the truth" but rather a correction of "errors."

Prosecuting Counsel Jalson Makori and IPOA lawyer David Tenge argued successfully that the registers were now tainted evidence that could not be trusted in police custody. "The custodian has admitted to tampering. These documents are the smoking gun," Makori submitted.

The Search for the Shooter

The inquest is trying to establish who fired the shot that killed Rex Masai on June 20, 2024. The spotlight is on police officer Isaiah Murangiri, whose firearm issuance records are now the subject of intense scrutiny.

• Cover-Up Suspected: The admission of doctored records lends credence to claims of a systematic police cover-up to protect the trigger-man.
• Systemic Rot: The revelation exposes the casual manner in which lethal force is managed within the National Police Service.
• Courts Authority: By seizing the registers, the Judiciary is asserting its oversight role, refusing to be a spectator in a potential miscarriage of justice.

Justice for Gen Z?

For the family of Rex Masai and the "Gen Z" movement, the courts ruling is a small but significant victory. It rips away the veil of police impunity. As the inquest continues, the altered registers sit in a court safe—silent witnesses to a crime the state tried to erase.