Arshad Sharif: Mystery over killing of Pakistani journalist in Kenya

The shooting dead of a prominent Pakistani investigative journalist by police in Kenya caused outrage in his home country, leaving many wondering how such a thing could have happened.

Thousands turned up to Arshad Sharif’s funeral on Thursday in Islamabad to mourn the well-known critic of Pakistan’s military.

Opponents of the current Pakistani government believe that he was targeted in a plot organised in Pakistan.

But Kenya’s police, in an initial report, said the 49-year-old was shot dead in a moving vehicle in a case of mistaken identity.

Pakistan says it has sent investigators to Kenya to help with the inquiry into what took place.

Late on Sunday evening, Sharif was a passenger in a Toyota Land Cruiser travelling on an unpaved rural road around 30km (20 miles) from the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. Shots were then fired at the vehicle by police, killing the journalist.

But exactly why is not clear.

The police have issued contradictory statements regarding the shooting.

In one account, they say that Sharif was in a vehicle that was mistaken for one that had been reported stolen.

The initial police report said officers were on the look-out for the missing vehicle when he was killed.

According to this report, the driver of Sharif’s Land Cruiser disobeyed orders to stop at a roadblock and officers then shot at the car at least eight times as it moved away, killing the journalist in the process.

In a second version of events from police, one of the people inside the vehicle fired first and then officers responded by shooting back. Police say one officer was hit in the hand as a result of the exchange of fire.

There are two key questions for investigators:

These will be among the issues to be considered by the police’s Internal Affairs Unit as well as the police watchdog, the Independent Police Oversight Authority, which are both looking into what happened.

It is not clear when Sharif first arrived in Kenya, or if he was travelling on a business or tourist visa.

What is known however, is that he left Pakistan in August and had been in the United Arab Emirates and possibly the UK.

Sharif was known as a vocal supporter of ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan and had complained of harassment before he left.

Following his death, his lawyer Shoaib Razzaq said that the Pakistani government had approached authorities in Dubai with a request to have him extradited to Pakistan.

Knowing this, Sharif quickly sought protection in Kenya, where he could easily get a visa on arrival and already had friends and contacts who could host him, Mr Razzaq said.

At the time of his death, Sharif was in the car with another Pakistani national believed to be resident in Kenya. It is thought that Sharif had been living in the country with this friend.

But there may have been a work connection.

Kenyan investigative journalist John Allan Namu said that he had been interviewed for a yet-to-be-released documentary that Sharif was working on. A trailer for the film shows that it is an expose on corruption in Pakistan.

It is not clear what the link with Kenya is and Namu later clarified that though he had been interviewed in Kenya he had not actually met Sharif.

Sharif’s killing could have been an unfortunate accident, but his death and the recent arrest of nine police officers over the July disappearance of two Indian nationals and their driver, have once again shone a spotlight on Kenya’s police service.

For decades, specialised or elite squads within the police, such as the now disbanded Special Services Unit (SSU), have been accused of carrying out extrajudicial killings, abductions and torture of suspects.

The cases have been an open secret but the recent announcement by newly elected President William Ruto of the closure of the SSU was the first time a head of state had openly spoken about atrocities committed by police.

A consortium of international and local NGOs say independent investigations have linked more than 600 killings to special units within the police service.

Some police officers have also been accused of hiring their guns to criminals or hiring themselves out to carry out assassinations. But none of these cases have yet made it to trial.

The arrest of the nine police officers in connection with the disappearance of the two Indian nationals has been seen as a landmark. Although these are only charges at the moment and there have been no convictions, even the fiercest critics of the government have lauded this as a first step in addressing police excesses.

On Friday, Kenya’s chief prosecutor said several senior police officers could be charged with crimes against humanity for offences, including murdering a baby, committed during and after the 2017 election campaign.

As a backer of former Prime Minister Khan and a critic of the military, Sharif had made many enemies. Before he left Pakistan he faced possible sedition charges and his TV programme was banned after suggesting that the military was involved with the removal of Mr Khan in April.

Accusations about his killing have been flying around with various figures calling press conferences to air their theories.

Faisal Vawda, at one time a minister in Mr Khan’s government, alleged that though Sharif was killed in Kenya, the plan was hatched in Pakistan – though not by establishment figures – and he had the evidence to prove it.

The former prime minister himself said he had learnt about a plot to kill Sharif earlier in the year and had then suggested he leave Pakistan.

And in a highly unusual move, the head of the country’s military intelligence, Lt Gen Nadeem Ahmed Anjum, addressed journalists and named a whole series of people – including senior media figures – who knew about Sharif’s movements and may somehow have been connected to his death. 

He added that the military was not threatening his life.