The DCI’s decision to allegedly fail to demand crucial phone records in the course of investigating the shocking death of Sergeant Kipyegon Kenei are raising more questions than answers.
According to a report by the Standard newspaper on Tuesday, March 10, The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) had not demanded call logs from any mobile service providers over three weeks after Kenei’s murder.
The DCI had earlier reported that Kenei’s alleged killers had formatted his phone and social media platforms and broken his sim card in order to throw the detectives off the trail.
According top experts, however, it is unfathomable that phone records can disappear since the Kenyan laws require mobile service providers to store records for a minimum of three years for use on request by any authorized agencies.
“It is impossible to erase any phone records as these are constantly backed up in in-house servers which are hosted in various parts of the world,” the tech expert was quoted.
The expert further added that in the case where a phone is restored to factory settings, only localized data and information on the various applications (apps) which can be accessed from the user is erased.
All these, the techie added, can be accessed using a different software with a proven record of retrieving such media, including photos and communication exchanges.
The expert further added that subscriber information, including location, airtime balances, calls, and SMS logs are stored in a central system technically known as Mobile Switching Centre (MSC).
“If that were the case that call logs cannot be retrieved when a device is formatted, then users could well lose their airtime after flushing their phones,” he stated.
In the expert’s opinion, the homicide detectives could have easily found out the people that Kenei was constantly on phone with before and after he was reported missing.
The sentiments were echoed by a telco company which indicated that they have access to data dating all the way back to 2005 and would give it to the authorities should there be a justifiable request for it.
“We have all the information about our customers. It is all intact and I can assure you that no one has asked for it,” a senior manager who requested anonymity was quoted.
