BY ALBERT NYAKUNDI
A judge in Naivasha has found a police constable guilty of murder in a case where the officer was implicated of killing a fisherman in 2014.
The court heard that Evans Maliecha killed Moses Kinyanjui Wanyoike on July 27,2014.
He was at the time attached to Anti-Stock-Theft Unit.
On the day Wanyoike was killed, he and two other fishermen -Johnson Ndichu and DouglasTutu were fishing at Crescent Island in Lake Naivasha.
Maliecha shot him in the head at close range.
The prosecution had lined up sixteen witnesses who testified against Maliecha before justice Richard Mwongo at Naivasha High Court.
He was placed by the judge on his defense in 2019.
The victim’s family was represented by lawyers from the International Justice Mission-Kenya.
IJM is a global organization that protects people in poverty from violence.
According to their website, it has been operational in Kenya for two decades and it is committed to strengthening public justice system.
IJM victim Attorney Edward Mbanya said the judgement was momentous.
“A public servant who misused the power given to him to serve and protect used it to kill an innocent, poor and defenseless citizen.” Said Mbanya.
Mbanya said several people and families terrorized by the accused police officer have seen the beginning of justice.
In a press release sent to newsrooms by the organization, Country Director Benson Shamalla said the judgment is a big step in holding errant police officers to account.
He decried the fact that Wanyoike’s family had to wait for over five years to get justice.
Shamalla said Wanyoike is just one of many young men killed in unclear circumstances by police officers.
He said, “We continue demanding for accountability for any errant police officer who violates the law. Additionally, we call for resourcing of IPOA and Internal Affairs Unit to fast-track cases under investigation.”
In his judgement on Monday, justice Mwongo reiterated that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that PC Maliecha, was the one who shot Wanyoike on July 27,2014 at Crescent Island in Lake Naivasha.
The Judge stated that the police officer acted recklessly, and he was not justified in shooting Wanyoike.
“Given all the foregoing circumstances and my findings, I find and hold that the accused acted with mens rea, recklessly and in violation of the law.” Said Justice Mwongo.
He said the accused person’s actions were made more unacceptable by the fact that he did not report the incident but instead chose to assist in prosecuting the fishermen- Ndichu and Tutu to cover the murder.
“His actions do not add up and do not support the defense of self-defense. Ultimately, I find the accused guilty of murder and convict him for the same,” the judge ruled.
The judge ordered that the police officer be remanded at Naivasha Prison until April 8, 2021 when he will be sentenced.
A day before the killing, a sheep belonging to Crescent Island was reported missing.
Maliecha and a colleague allegedly had gone to pursue suspects when they sighted the three fishermen and shot at them, instantly killing Wanyoike.
Maliecha to cover the murder, charged Ndichu and Tutu with theft of a sheep worth Sh10,000.
After learning of their plight and the injustice meted on the duo, IJM intervened to help bring the correct facts before the court.
A magistrate who analyzed the theft of the sheep case and acquitted to the duo observed that the evidence was insufficient to prove that they had stolen any sheep.
Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) investigated the killing and forwarded the file to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) who charged the officer with Wanyoike’s murder.
Shamalla commended IPOA and ODPP for their swift actions.
Maliecha’s conviction comes two years after a senior police officer, former Ruaraka OCS Nahashon Mutua was convicted and sentenced in the murder of Martin Koome in 2019.
Mutua lost an appeal he had lodged challenging the court’s decision in December 2020.