Report: How bullet killed former Kilifi deputy governor Kenneth Kamto
Former Kilifi County Deputy Governor Kenneth Kamto addressing a rally in Rabai in this photo taken on May 26, 2017.
What you need to know:
- The position of the bullet perforation defect marked D1 and D2 was 117cm from the lower edge of the door.
- The report further indicated that the defects found on the doors of the victim’s house were caused by projectiles moving at a very high velocity.
The bullet that killed former Kilifi Deputy Governor Kenneth Kamto was fired from a standing position close to the entrance of his Nyali home, a report has shown.
Mr Kamto was killed on December 12, 2018, when gunmen stormed his compound at 2am.
The document that was tabled as evidence before a Shanzu court also indicates that the bullet hit the rear leg of a chair before hitting the lower part of the door in the sitting room.
“Angle analysis and measurement enabled me to form the opinion that the shot was made from the main entrance to the house once the shooter had gained entry into the house,” said firearm examiner Alfred Mbalani.
The report further shows that the position of the bullet perforation defect marked D1 and D2 was 117cm from the lower edge of the door.
“Considering the possible comfortable position of the shooter, holding his firearm almost horizontally, and the possible location of the bullet wounds on the left hand and chest of the victim, I formed the opinion that the shooter was probably a tall individual of height approximately above 5.8 feet,” he said.
The report further indicated that the defects found on the doors of the victim’s house were caused by projectiles moving at a very high velocity.
From Left: Julius Gitonga M’Muguu, Joseph Amwayi Mukabana and Florence Mwanza Mbithe before Mombasa Senior Principal Magistrate Henry Nyakweba. Mr Gitonga and Mr Amwayi are co-accused alongside Mr Muasya Kiteme of fatally shooting former Kilifi Deputy Governor Kenneth Kamto on December 12, 2018.
Shanzu Principal Magistrate Yussuf Shikanda was told that the bullet head found at the house, two bullet heads retrieved from Kamto’s body, and three spent cartridges found outside the gate were discharged from the firearm found with the accused.
Following Kamto's fatal shooting, Mr Muasya Kiteme alias Mwaa, Mr Julius Gitonga, Mr Joseph Amwayi Mukabana, Ms Florence Mwanza, Mr Joseph Shoi Chege and Ms Clementina Nerima were arrested and charged with separate offences ranging from robbery with violence to being in possession of stolen items.
Mr Kiteme was charged alongside Mr Gitonga and Mr Mukabana with fatally shooting the former deputy governor and robbing him of three mobile phones valued at Sh28,000.
Three mobile phones
Ms Mwanza and Mr Gitonga are charged with dishonestly keeping the three mobile phones belonging to Kamto and his wife Fawzia Dear Omar, knowing or having reason to believe them to be stolen property. They committed the offence on January 6, 2019, at Kwa Bulo area in Kisauni.
Mr Gitonga and Mr Amwayi are also accused of robbing a Chinese national, Adnan Chi Tung, of goods worth Sh3 million at Nyali Plaza estate.
They are also accused of robbing Ms Omar and Uchi Zuma Mkaha mobile phones worth Sh10,000 and Sh2,000 at the victims' houses on Nyali Beach Road on December 12.
Mr Chege and Ms Nerima were found with a stolen mobile phone belonging to Zuma.
Mr Gitonga and Ms Mwanza are further accused of being in possession of a pistol loaded with 18 rounds of ammunition on January 6 at Kwa Bulo Estate, without a valid firearm certificate.
Police Constable Ventah Andayi testified in the case that she tracked Mr Amwayi to Kakamega county with the aid of an informant.
She testified before the court that she spent two days in Kakamega keeping an eye on Mr Amwayi, who she claimed held a leadership position at a church.
Elude capture
“I picked up my colleague from the Kakamega police station. The first day, we saw him, but we did not arrest him. In fact, we ran into him while on a motorbike, but we didn't bother. But he appeared suspicious," she said.
The officer said that on the second day, they set up a trap for the suspect.
“We ambushed him in the evening as he was coming home. We overpowered him despite his attempts to elude capture. He led us to his home, where we searched and found a number of things, including mobile phones," she said.
She said they moved the suspect to Mombasa, where robbery with violence charges were pressed against him.
Sergeant Raphael Wanjohi, the lead investigator in the fatal shooting of Kamto, said he found spent cartridges inside the deceased's home.
“We cleared the vegetation and found spent cartridges,” he said.
According to Mr Wanjohi, during investigations, police were able to connect the gun found at Mr Gitonga's home with the spent cartridges found inside Kamto’s homestead.
Mr Wanjohi, who is the last prosecution witness, said the suspects were charged with robbery with violence after investigations connected them to the shooting that resulted in Kamto's death.
"We recovered from the accused persons items stolen from the deceased’s home,” he said.
A DNA analysis of the items collected from Mr Gitonga’s house positively identified him as the owner of the house where items stolen from Kamto’s house were recovered.
“Exhibit K(ii) being Jeff Banks' jacket generated a male DNA profile that matched the reference sample exhibit Y-Mr Gitonga’s buccal swab,” says a government analyst’s report.
The court has been told that witnesses’ statements, CCTV footage and a confession by one of the suspects in the matter implicate Mr Gitonga, Mr Mukabana and Mr Kiteme as the perpetrators of the robbery.
The court has also heard that the firearm, ammunition, spent cartridges, bullet heads, call data records, cyber-crime reports, government chemist report and mobile phones connect the suspects to the December 12, 2018 robbery and other crimes committed within Nyali and beyond.
