Officers at a police station near a rubbish dump where dismembered body parts were found have been transferred, Kenya’s acting inspector general of police has said.
On Sunday, Douglas Kanja Kirocho said that so far, eight female bodies had been retrieved from the site in the capital, Nairobi.
Kenya’s police watchdog previously announced it was investigating whether there was police involvement in the gruesome deaths, which come amid allegations of widespread human rights abuses by officers during recent anti-government protests.
Mr Kirocho said officers from Kware police station were being moved to ensure “fair and unbiased investigations” into the “heinous” deaths.
Detectives have been scouring the site in the Mukuru slum since Friday, when the corpses of six women were found in sacks floating in a sea of rubbish.
On Saturday, five other bags containing body parts were recovered.
Preliminary reports show that the bodies were in various stages of decomposition and that the deceased were aged between 18 and 30.
Officers said some of the bags included severed legs and torsos, speculating that the deaths could be related to the activities of cultists or serial killers.
But the Independent Police Oversight Authority said “widespread allegations of police involvement in unlawful arrests [and] abductions” meant it was undertaking a preliminary investigation to establish whether there was any police connection.
Human rights groups have accused the police of shooting dozens of people who were demonstrating against planned tax rises earlier this month, some of them fatally.
The police have also been accused of abducting or arbitrarily arresting hundreds more during the protests.
Responding to the bodies found in Mukuru, the Independent Police Oversight Authority said: “The bodies, wrapped in bags and secured by nylon ropes, had visible marks of torture and mutilation.”
The watchdog also noted that the dump site was less than 100m from Kware police station.
In contradiction to the police’s report, the Independent Police Oversight Authority said nine dismembered bodies were found at the Mukuru dump – seven female and two male.
Mr Kirocho said the police were working to conclude their investigation into the deaths “within 21 days”.
Local media reported that police deployed two water cannons to the scene on Saturday, after angry protesters threatened to open the bags filled with human remains.
Officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) urged people to keep calm and grant them space to investigate the discoveries, accusing protesters of impeding their investigation.
The grisly find has put pressure on President William Ruto, who has vowed that those behind the killings will be punished.
“We are a democratic country guided by the rule of law. Those involved in mysterious killings in Nairobi and any other part of the country will be held to account,” he said in a post to X, formerly Twitter.
The case is the latest disturbing such incident in Kenya.
Last year the country was left horrified after the remains of hundreds of people associated with a doomsday cult were discovered in the Indian Ocean coastal town of Malindi.
Paul Nthenge Mackenzie went on trial in Mombasa earlier this week on charges of terrorism and murder over the deaths of more than 440 of his followers. He denies the allegations.
He is alleged to have encouraged men, women and children to starve themselves in order to “meet Jesus”, in one of the world’s worst cult-related massacres.
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