Court Orders Murder Charges Against 4 Police Officers

Undated file image of a gavel on the bench in the courtroom
File image of a gavel on the bench in the courtroom
Kenyans.co.ke

A Kakamega court has ordered that four police officers be charged with murder.

During an inquest into the death of Raymond Mulanda, the court found that the four police officers and a bar owner acted with impunity leading to the death.

Kakamega Principal Magistrate, Eric Malesi, recommended murder charges against the four officers and the bar owner suspected to have beaten Mulanda to death.

An undated image of a police vehicle at a scene of a crime
A police vehicle pictured at a scene of a crime
Photo
NPS

The Magistrate, while delivering a ruling over the incident that happened on December 16, 2019, stated that the death of Mulanda should not be just another statistic on increased cases of police brutality in the country.

“Police officers are humans just like the rest of us. How they turn brutal after attending Kiganjo Police Training College and wearing a uniform is a question that needs to be discussed.

"I rule that the four officers and the bar owner who called them to arrest Mulanda should be charged with murder,” the Principal Magistrate stated.

According to the police officers, Mulanda jumped from a moving police pick-up while being taken to Kakamega Central Police Station.

“On the material day, I was on routine patrol together with my colleague Kaimeti when we were alerted of a man causing a disturbance. We went to arrest him but he refused to board a motorbike to the station,” one of the police officers told the court.

“He protested that we were in civilian clothes and that the bike had civilian registration so he couldn’t be arrested by civilians. We called for reinforcement from Kakamega Police Station and he agreed to enter a police vehicle, but he nonetheless jumped off on the way," he added.

But the Magistrate noted that the evidence provided by the government pathologist contradicted accounts from the police officers on how Mulanda met his untimely demise.

"The pathologist who looked at the cause of Mulanda’s death concluded that the multiple internal injuries he suffered on the head were not consistent with motion trauma as the officers in question testified," Principal Magistrate Malesi stated.

“Besides, the pathologist indicated there are little chances that the multiple internal head injuries and a burst testicle were caused by jumping from the police vehicle,” he continued.

Police Vehicle
An image of a police vehicle spotted in Nairobi
Photo
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