NAKURU, Kenya – The puzzle surrounding the disappearance of Nakuru fisherman Brian Odhiambo has taken a new twist after a senior official from the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) admitted in court that no official records exist documenting arrests on the day Odhiambo vanished.
Appearing before a Nakuru court on Monday, KWS Assistant Director Emmanuel Koech testified that he could not trace any entries showing arrests made on January 18, 2025 — the day Odhiambo was last seen.
This contradicted earlier testimony by the Officer Commanding Station at Bondeni Police Station, who had told the court that nine suspects were brought in by KWS rangers during a crackdown on illegal fishing.
“It is not indicating any arrest here… I have not seen any record of any arrested person on that day,” Koech said. “It is supposed to be recorded. There were no records, and that is not proper.”
Koech confirmed that six KWS officers involved in the January 18 operation — Francis Wachira, Abdulrahman Ali Sudi, Isaac Ochieng, Evans Kimaiyo, Michael Wabukala, and Alexander Lorogoi — remain in active service.
However, he was unable to explain why KWS failed to document the operation internally or share records with investigators.
The admission triggered sharp questioning from lawyers representing Odhiambo’s family.
“So there are records at Bondeni Police Station, but no records at KWS? Is that the position?” asked lawyer Kipkoech Ngetich.
“You are telling the court that KWS operates outside the oversight framework? KWS is under IPOA supervision,” added lawyer Abuya Mogendi.
The court also heard from telecommunications expert Hassan Salado, who revealed that call data placed Odhiambo’s phone at the same location as four KWS officers — Lorogoi, Ochieng, Wabukala, and Kimaiyo — on the morning of his disappearance.
“On the 18th of January 2025, the location of the missing person and the suspects are the same, from 10:00 am to 10:55 am,” Salado told the court, citing data from phone towers in Kivumbini, Nakuru East.
Salado, testifying as the sixth witness in the case, said he had received three requests from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations between January 10 and 21 for phone data linked to Odhiambo and the KWS officers.
He clarified that Odhiambo’s mobile line was registered under the name of his wife, Alvy Okello.
Defence lawyer Diana Sigei sought to poke holes in the analysis, pointing to a phone call reportedly received by Odhiambo’s phone later that night at 10:06 p.m. in Karunga.
“Confirm that at 22:06, the missing person received a phone call,” she asked.
Salado responded: “That is a forwarded call… it is just a continuation of Karunga. The phone was still located at Karunga.”
The court adjourned the hearing to September 1, with four more witnesses expected to take the stand.
