A student initially among nine suspects linked to the deadly Utumishi Girls High School fire tragedy has been freed after investigators established she was not involved in the incident, even as eight others remain in custody awaiting plea-taking on murder charges.
The development emerged on Wednesday, June 24 when a court ordered the student's release and directed that she be handed over to her parents after investigations found she was not culpable in the commission of the offence.
The remaining eight suspects will continue being held after Chief Magistrate Abdulqadir Ramadhan Lorot granted an application by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to detain them for an additional two days pending their arraignment on Friday, June 26.
According to a statement issued by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), the matter came up for mention to confirm the status of investigations and receive further directions from the court.
The prosecution team, led by Deputy Regional Coordinator for the Rift Valley Emmah Bosire and assisted by Naivasha ODPP office head Emma Okok and prosecutor Joseck Abwajo, informed the court that the DPP had approved murder charges against the suspects.
The eight students are expected to face charges of murder contrary to Section 203 as read together with Section 204 of the Penal Code.
Following the prosecution's application, the court allowed the continued detention of the suspects to facilitate their arraignment and plea-taking later this week.
The latest development comes barely a day after the ODPP announced that nine students would face 16 counts of murder following the DPP's approval of their prosecution after a review of evidence gathered during investigations.
That decision was made after prosecutors examined an investigation file submitted by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), which has been probing the circumstances surrounding the devastating fire that occurred on May 28.
The ODPP's latest statement, however, has raised fresh questions after one of the students initially listed among the suspects was cleared and released.
While prosecutors confirmed that investigations established the student was not culpable, the ODPP did not disclose the specific findings or circumstances that led to her exoneration.
The lack of details is likely to attract public interest given the high-profile nature of the case and the widespread attention it has generated since the tragedy occurred.
The Utumishi Girls High School fire shocked the country after it resulted in the death of 16 students and sparked investigations into what authorities suspected was a deliberate act.
Investigators have spent weeks gathering evidence, recording witness statements and reconstructing events leading up to the fire as they sought to establish responsibility for the incident.
The DPP's decision to approve murder charges signalled that prosecutors believe there is sufficient evidence to sustain criminal proceedings against the suspects.
During Wednesday's court appearance, the prosecution team confirmed before the bench that the DPP had already greenlit the charges against the students.
The court subsequently directed that the eight suspects remain in lawful custody pending their arraignment.
Because the accused are minors, the court ordered that they be remanded at either the Nakuru Children Remand Home or the Nairobi Children Remand Home as they await plea-taking.
The suspects are now expected to return to court on June 26, when they will formally respond to the murder charges.
The case is expected to remain under intense public scrutiny as families, education stakeholders and members of the public seek answers regarding the circumstances that led to one of the deadliest school fire incidents in recent years.
Attention is also likely to focus on the prosecution's evidence and the reasons behind the decision to release one student while proceeding with murder charges against the remaining eight suspects.
