§ Mr. Wallasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies when the Judicial Inquiry on the election day riots at Isiolo, in Kenya, will be held.
§ Mr. SandysUnder the Kenya Constitution, responsibility for holding a special inquiry into the incidents at Isiolo on 24th May is a matter for the 23W Regional Assembly of the Eastern Region and is not a matter for which I have any responsibility.
I understand, however, that an inquest was held in order to ascertain the causes of the death of the four people who died at Isiolo, and to allocate criminal responsibility if the evidence so warranted. The Resident Magistrate found that two persons died from gunshot wounds as a result of the police opening fire on the crowd, but he returned a verdict of justifiable homicide without, in fact, being able to identify any particular policeman as having fired the fatal shots. Of the other two people who died, one had been struck by a number of blunt instruments which could have been stones thrown by the crowd, or by police batons, but there was no evidence to decide which; the cause of death of the other could not be ascertained. The Magistrate returned open verdicts in respect of the deaths of these two persons.
The Resident Magistrate praised the police for their restraint and discipline in very difficult and dangerous circumstances. The police force in question was outnumbered by at least 10 to 1 and there were between 35 and 40 police casualties out of a total force of 140.
The trial of 27 Somalis accused of rioting at Isiolo on that day is proceeding.