By REUBEN OLITA
October 6, 2026| The public inquest into the death of former Malaba Deputy OCS Tobias Gerald Murunga resumed on Monday, with three additional witnesses testifying before Busia Chief Magistrate Paul Biwott.
The first hearing was held on June 24, 2026, when two witnesses—the deceased’s widow, Naomi Murunga, and his nephew, Daniel Mogoria—took the stand.
A Nighttime Discovery
The first witness on Monday was Stephen Esiromo, a resident of Ketebat along the Malaba-Angurai Road in Teso North Sub-County, near where Murunga is believed to have died in a motorcycle accident.
Esiromo, who works for M-KOPA, told the court that he was asleep at about 1 a.m. on February 3, 2025, when he was awakened by boys returning home after watching football.
“They told me there was a motorcycle lying near the road with a pillion lying beside it,” Esiromo said.
He identified the boys as Padri and Olona.
“I immediately went to the scene. I called the assistant chief of the area, who visited the scene the following day because he was held up,” he told the court.
Esiromo said he found a motorcycle lying on the side of the road and the body of an unidentified man wearing blue jeans and a white hooded top.
“I couldn’t touch the body until the police officers arrived,” he said.
During cross-examination by prosecutor Jamal Mohammed, Esiromo said the police officers who arrived at the scene recognised the deceased as their colleague and later realised that he was their boss, although they did not mention his name at the time.
Esiromo said he attempted to take photographs of the scene, but his phone had malfunctioned.
“I left for home after the police had moved the body,” he said.
Chief’s Account of That Night
Assistant Chief Silas Iteba, who is based in Chururu Village, Kekalet Sub-location, Angurai Division, Teso North Sub-County, also testified.
He recalled receiving a telephone call from Esiromo at 1:17 a.m. on February 3, 2025, informing him that a motorcycle accident had occurred in the Ketebat area.
“Immediately, I called Moding OCS, who told me of transport challenges. She advised me to call the traffic officer on duty and gave me his phone number,” Iteba said.
He said he informed the officer that a motorcycle accident had occurred along the Malaba-Angurai Road, estimating the distance at about nine kilometres.
“He called me after 10 minutes, and I told him it was just a two-kilometre drive from the primary school to the scene,” he said.
Iteba added that after about 30 minutes, he called Shadrack Pade and also reported the incident on the Teso North social platform.
Officer Recounts Scene
The third witness, who testified virtually, was Police Constable Wilson Koros, attached to the Traffic Department at Ahero Police Station.
Koros told the court that on February 3, 2025, he was at Malaba Police Station on accident standby when, at about 2:20 a.m., he received a call from his Base Commander, IP Maraga, informing him that an accident had occurred along the Malaba-Angurai Road at Ketebat.
Together with IP Sang, PC Kipchumba, Corporal Koech and Mobayo, they proceeded to the scene.
“We noticed Boxer KMFN 141Q had been involved in an accident. A person was lying on top of the motorcycle and was unconscious,” Koros said.
He said after removing the man from the thicket, they discovered that he was their colleague, Tobias Murunga, who was then serving as Deputy OCS.
The officers took Murunga to Teso North Sub-County Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.
Cause of Death Revealed
Koros said police returned to the scene the following day and marked it, although the scene had initially been marked on February 3.
He told the court that although he did not witness the post-mortem examination conducted on February 6, 2025, he had seen the post-mortem report.
According to the report, the cause of death was severe head injury.
Koros also told the court that a motorcycle inspection had been conducted.
Asked by prosecutor Mohammed about the findings, Koros said the motorcycle had no physical damage.
Hearing Adjourned
Chief Magistrate Biwott fixed February 8, 2027, for further hearing of the inquest.
The proceedings are intended to establish the circumstances surrounding Murunga’s death.
The matter was forwarded to the court by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) after investigations failed to conclusively determine who was responsible for his death.
The public inquest provides an opportunity for any person with relevant information or evidence to assist the court in establishing the circumstances of Murunga’s death and determining whether any person should be held responsible.
“We want to establish what happened, and anybody found culpable will face the appropriate charges,” Chief Magistrate Biwott said.