A lorry owner who beat up his driver for allegedly failing to load the lorry to its full capacity, resulting in his death, will be charged with manslaughter.
A Meru magistrate ruled that Douglas Koome was responsible for the death of his driver, Martin Gituma, after beating him twice for disobeying instructions.
Githongo Senior Principal Magistrate Temba Allan Sitati said although Mr Gitonga had an underlying medical condition, Mr Koome bore the causal, actual and consequential liability for the death of his driver.
"This inquest has found no supervening or intervening events that would have altered the course of the causative action of the person concerned. Douglas Koome is liable to be charged with the offence of manslaughter of the deceased," the magistrate said.
His mother said her son arrived home at about 11pm on the fateful day, moaning in pain and bleeding from the mouth. The son, she said, explained that he had been attacked by his boss because he had not filled the ballast in the lorry as instructed.
He went to sleep and the next morning Jesse Karimi, who was the lorry driver and had witnessed the beating the day before, woke him up as usual at around 6.30am. They continued to work, only for Mr Koome to show up later and resume the vicious attack on him.
The second beating occurred just before the lorry was to be loaded. Mr Karimi said their employer showed up and furiously attacked the driver with fists, kicks and all manner of blows.
The witness said Mr Koome stamped his feet on his chest and ribcage. The worker complained of stomach and chest pains. He said it was a bad beating which caused him to fall unconscious.
Noticing that he was in great pain, Mr Karimi hired a motorbike and rushed him to a nearby dispensary, where he was given some painkillers and asked to report the beating to the police. He did not report the matter, saying he wanted to rest first.
Dr Sophie Nyiha, who conducted the post-mortem on the body, confirmed that Mr Gituma was bleeding from a ruptured lung.
Dr Nyiha said the stomach pains he complained of were consistent with ascites - the accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity - and were also due to the ruptured small intestine.
The doctor said at the time of his death, Mr Gituma was suffering from a pre-existing condition that made him brittle and fragile when subjected to undue stress - severe hypertension compounded by the onset of liver cirrhosis.
She said the double assault on him caused great duress and triggered such a hypertensive shock that led to the uncontrolled pressure manifested by the ruptured blood vessels in the small intestine.
"The cumulative effect of the foregoing analysis of the facts and the applicable law leads this Honourable Court to conclude that the subject herein bore the sole causative, effective and consequential liability for the death of the deceased," the judge said.
The court said Mr Koome should be charged with manslaughter contrary to Section 202 read with Section 205.
Mr Sitati ordered that Koome be remanded at Kariene Police Station pending further proceedings by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), including admission to bail and subsequent arraignment.
