Family criticises Kenyan murder inquiry

The family of Brother Larry Timmons, an Irish missionary murdered in Kenya more than two years ago, has called on the Government to put pressure on the Kenyan authorities to ensure his death is properly investigated.

Brother Timmons's family has grown uneasy with the continuing delays in the investigation. His niece, Ms Margaret Hughes of Delvin, Co Westmeath, said the Government should be doing more to ensure that Brother Timmons's death "doesn't just end there".

The case took an unexpected turn earlier this year when the magistrate appointed to investigate the mysterious circumstances of Brother Timmons's death was murdered. Although a new magistrate has since been appointed, the inquest has yet to be completed.

A policeman, one of four local figures Brother Timmons had accused of corruption, was arrested after the murder in January 1997. However, Mr Francis Kimanzi was later released on bail. The Catholic Church in Kenya has accused the authorities of interfering with witnesses.

Mr Mwanyengela Ngali, the Kenyan High Commissioner to Ireland and the UK, said such cases were prone to delays in Kenya, but he had no doubts that justice would be done.

Mr Ngali, who was in Dublin this weekend for a human rights conference organised by the Department of Foreign Affairs, said: "There is no reason to suspect a cover-up. I wouldn't have any concerns but that the case will be advanced."

The authorities originally refused requests for an inquest, but in 1997, after pressure by two former ministers for foreign affairs, Mr Dick Spring and Mr Ray Burke, they agreed to establish one.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Foreign Affairs said it was continuing to monitor the case, and was awaiting the outcome of the inquest.

Brother Timmons and a night watchman were shot dead in January 1997 when police came to investigate a robbery at his home.