The High Court in Voi has convicted a police officer over the 2019 fatal shooting of a man at a restaurant in Taveta Town.
In a statement on Tuesday, May 12, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) confirmed that Corporal Mark David Gitahi Marombe was found guilty of the murder of Esau Juma Mwanguku.
According to the authority, the court also cancelled the officer’s bond following the conviction and ordered that he be detained at Manyani GK Prison pending sentencing.
"Consequently, the Court cancelled the officer’s bond, detaining him at the Manyani GK Prison until his sentencing which is slated for 2nd June, 2026," the statement read in part.
The court heard that the officer fatally shot Mwanguku at Rockland Restaurant in Taveta Town, where both men had reportedly been drinking before the incident.
Read More
IPOA said it independently launched investigations into the killing before recommending murder charges against the officer.
"The matter was investigated Suo Moto by the Authority. Upon completion of investigations, IPOA recommended that the officer is charged with murder," the statement added.
This comes weeks after two police officers were jailed after being found guilty of murdering a suspect in a police cell.
In a statement on Wednesday, April 29, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) said the accused, James Ogwagwa Nyakina and Jackson Kirui Kipngeno, committed the act on August 19, 2019.
Nyakina was sentenced to 30 years in prison while his co-accused, Kipngeno, received a 10-year jail term.
"Two police officers charged with the murder of a suspect in Nyamatoki police cells in Nyamira on 19th August 2019 have been jailed.
"James Ogwagwa Nyakina, a police corporal, was sentenced to serve 30 years' imprisonment, while Jackson Kirui Kipngeno, a police constable, was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment," read the statement in part.
According to the ODPP, the court found that the two police officers who were working at the Nyamatoki police post jointly murdered Amos Kemosi Kereri.
During the case, the prosecution presented 14 witnesses to testify against the officers, successfully proving their involvement in the fatal assault.
"The prosecution established that the two officers, while on night patrol together with other police officers, arrested the deceased and took him to the said post, where the two assaulted him, and when he was taken to the hospital the following morning, he was pronounced dead," the ODPP added.
