A man who was accused of shooting a Kenya Power staff member with an arrow in 2024 has been sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Delivering the ruling, Chief Magistrate Paul Wechuli at the Kithimani Magistrate's Court termed the actions of the defendant as deliberate.
“His overt act of wilfully and carefully placing an arrow on a bow and shooting at the complainant means that he was in the process of killing the complainant," the judge ruled.
"His actions do not amount to a mere preparation to commit the offence; he had put his plans in motion before he was restrained and his bow broken."
The ruling was delivered after the prosecution, led by Fred Kimathi and James Gachoka, presented their case, including eye witness reports from five witnesses, which the suspect did not deny.
On June 7, 2024, the victim, a Kenya Power staff member, was conducting a routine task of pruning trees encroaching on power lines at the Kithendu village, Yatta Sub-County in Machakos after power went out in the area.
Upon arriving at the defendant's home, he noticed an avocado tree that was reportedly interfering with the power lines and proceeded to prune the tree.
However, the suspect protested, but the victim and his colleagues insisted that they had to prune the tree to restore power to the village. It was at this point that the homeowner ran into his house and retrieved a bow and arrows.
Shortly after, he shot the complainant with an arrow on the right side of the abdomen and was in the process of trying to shoot him a second time when he was restrained by onlookers.
The Kenya Power staffer was rushed to the Matuu level 4 Hospital, where a surgery to remove the lodged arrow was conducted.
In his ruling, the magistrate thus noted that the victim had no personal issue with the perpetrator and was just conducting his official duty as required.
“The accused, on the other hand, had let his tree interfere with the said power line, thus affecting the entire village. For him to turn around and attack the complainant so viciously is unfortunate and barbaric, and he deserves a deterrent sentence,” noted Hon. Wechuli.
