Two police officers found guilty of murdering camel herder in 2018

Two police officers were on Friday found guilty of killing a camel herder at Boka market in Tana River County on June 24, 2018.

Justice Stephen Githinji ruled that Police Constables Emmanuel Mwaringa and Brian Otieno jointly murdered Abdullahi Hussein.

Judge Githinji determined that the prosecution had proven that the two police officers used excessive force during the incident.

“The judge ruled that the use of live bullets to shoot at an unarmed civilian constituted to unreasonable use of force in the circumstances,” the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) said in a statement.

The High Court determined that there was an ingredient of malice on the part of the accused persons in their action against the deceased after the prosecution presented 17 witnesses.

The judge further ruled that the two accused persons failed to challenge the weight of the evidence against them presented by the ODPP through Senior Prosecution Counsel Agather Mkongo during the trial.

On the fateful day, the deceased and his father Hussein Omar had an impasse regarding the sale of a camel.

Consequently, the deceased drove the camel toward Kora National Reserve, prompting the father to report the matter to the police officers, who were manning the Boka livestock auction market at the time.

The officers then chased the deceased for one kilometer but he refused to stop, leading to a confrontation as he began hurling stones at the men in uniform, causing them to shoot him.

“It emerged that PC Emmanuel Wanje shot the deceased on the leg and head, while APC Brian Otieno wounded him in the abdomen,” the ODPP stated.

The sentencing was set for March 20, 2024.