A police officer in Kathasyo, Masimba, Kajiado County, is in custody after he allegedly shot a motorist in a case of mistaken identity. The officer was swiftly disarmed by colleagues and detained as investigations into the incident began.
Following his arrest, the police officer told investigators that he had mistaken the driver and his passengers for thieves targeting the fibre cables running through the area.
According to police reports, the deceased, identified as Samuel Mutua Mulwa, was in the company of four others when their van developed mechanical problems on the way to Muoni River, where they had gone to fetch water.
While they were attending to the vehicle, another car, a Probox, approached from the opposite direction with full lights on. A police officer in uniform stepped out of the vehicle and questioned the group about their presence in the area.
“Before they could respond, the officer opened fire, fatally wounding the driver,” said one of the passengers.
Mulwa was rushed to Makindu Sub-County Hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival. His body, which bore gunshot wounds, was later transferred to the facility’s mortuary, awaiting a postmortem.
Detectives at the scene said the group’s vehicle had a bullet hole in the driver’s door and contained several empty plastic jerricans.
The officer involved was found armed with an Agalile Ace 521 rifle loaded with 25 rounds of ammunition, which he said had been issued for patrol duties along the optic fibre cable line. He was disarmed of the weapon, which still contained 17 rounds. Police suspect at least eight rounds were discharged.
The latest incident comes just days after a police officer attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) headquarters last week allegedly shot dead two civilians in Makongeni, Thika, Kiambu County.
The incident occurred after Police Constable Eric Gitonga reportedly knocked down a boda boda rider carrying a passenger.
The officer and the rider are said to have agreed to head to Makongeni Police Station to report the accident. Police later described the accident as minor, with the officer claiming the rider had made a wrong manoeuvre.
After the crash, the officer drove off towards the station, but a group of boda boda riders followed him, demanding that he take responsibility.
The standoff escalated when the officer, reportedly feeling threatened, stepped out of his vehicle and opened fire, fatally shooting two bystanders. The rest scattered but later regrouped in larger numbers, pelting the officer with stones and setting his car ablaze.
Mr Gitonga was arrested, disarmed and detained at Thika Police Station.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), the agency mandated to check police impunity and restore public trust, has struggled to hold rogue officers accountable.
According to IPOA Chairman Isaack Hassan, the authority has received and processed 33,791 complaints and concluded 6,082 investigations since its inception.
Disturbingly, he says, in just the past year alone, 136 deaths have been linked to police officers, with an additional 59 people reported to have died in police custody.
