THE High Court has ordered the DCI to arrest suspect Ibrahim Rotich, who is accused of murdering international athlete Agnes Tirop.
Justice Robert Wananda gave more time to DCI officer Johnstone Sanga to ensure Rotich is brought to court as soon as possible to face justice.
He also directed that the Sh500,000 deposited by Rotich as cash bail be forfeited to the state.
“I order the DCI to ensure the suspect is arrested and brought before this court,” Justice Wananda said.
Rotich went missing, forcing the High Court to issue a warrant of arrest against him.
Wananda issued the warrant after Rotich, for the second time, failed to appear in the Eldoret court for the hearing of his trial.
Rotich had been granted a Sh400,000 bond with two similar sureties or a cash bail of Sh500,000 two years ago, after a second bond application.
The judge had also summoned Eldoret OCS James Lenaso, who appeared in court to explain if Rotich had been complying with bail conditions set by the court before the suspect was freed.
Among the conditions was that the suspect reports at the station weekly.
“Since I took over as OCS at the station last year, I have never seen him appear before me,” Lenaso said.
Before Rotich was released on bail in November 2024, his lawyer Ngige Mbugua had argued that Rotich was not a flight risk, despite the prosecution’s persistent opposition to his release on bail.
A month ago, lawyer Ngige told the court that he was unable to trace his client on phone or physically.
He said he did not know his whereabouts and that his phone remained inactive.
The lawyer said a report of missing person had been made to Eldoret police station and the search for him was on.
But the prosecution, led by state counsel Leonard Okaka, said the accused had jumped bail and the court had to issue a warrant of arrest and order surrender of the cash bail to the state.
“The dates for hearing were known to his counsel but there is no clear information on the whereabouts of the suspect,” Okaka said.
Lawyer for the Tirop family, Richard Warigi, urged the court to ensure its orders are strictly enforced.
Rotich had first failed to appear in court on February 27 this year.
So far, 10 witnesses have testified in the case and 14 more were to give their testimony.
Rotich, the prime suspect in the murder of his estranged wife, denied the charges before the High Court.
According to the prosecution, he allegedly killed Tirop on October 12, 2021, at a rural estate in Iten, Elgeyo Marakwet county.
The athlete was found dead in her home with stab wounds, just days after returning from Germany, where she had broken the women’s 10-kilometre world record with a time of 30:01.
Tirop had previously won bronze medals in the 10,000-metre race at the 2017 and 2019 World Championships.
Family members, led by father Vincent Tirop, were in court and regretted that the disappearance of Rotich would deny justice to the family. T
he family members said all they want is justice for the murder of their daughter and that the accused has to be brought back to court to face the law.
