A day before police constable Abel Andari died in a suspected murder-suicide, he had confiscated his police wife Dorcas Chebet’s phone, on suspicion that she was having an affair.
Mr Andari, police now believe, was interested in exposing the affair through the mobile phone, as well as blocking any further communication between the two suspected lovers.
But this move could have been the reason for his death as Ms Chebet, a police officer in Kiminini, is believed to have shot him twice at his Kiungani Police work station before turning the gun on herself on that fateful Sunday morning.
It is reported that the two met on Saturday evening at Kiminini where Mr Andari took her phone, promising to return it the next morning after his investigations. But Ms Chebet did not wait for the phone to be brought back.
She is reported to have gone to Kiungani after asking her sister to prepare her two children — a two-and-a-half-year-old boy and a girl, one — to go to church, promising to join them later.
Only she did not prepare for church, but headed straight to her husband’s work station.
She left her house at around 9am, promising a colleague to watch her (colleague’s) shift, but only after she got her phone back.
“A colleague of hers had requested her to cover for her since she was engaged on other matters. She obliged, but asked to first be allowed to get her phone back,” Trans Nzoia County Criminal Investigations Officer Francis Kihara told the Nation.
At 10am, after arriving at her husband’s work place, she greeted officers attached to the station before proceeding together with her husband to his house a few metres away from the station.
“Shortly after getting into the house, they locked themselves inside. Who would have questioned that since they were a couple? What they were doing inside was nobody’s business,” explained Mr Kihara.
Around 11.30am, one gunshot was heard from the house. Two other shots rent the air a few minutes later, a few minutes apart.
The station’s commander (OCS) reported that after the gunshots, no more movement was heard in the house.
Police then broke the locked door to find the lifeless bodies of the two officers lying on the floor. A G3 rifle and three spent cartridges were found at the scene.
According to the police report, Chebet used her husband’s gun to shoot him twice on the belly before turning the weapon on herself.
Police constable Abel Andati, 25, who was shot dead by his wife.
Her husband, who was in-charge of the armoury at the said station, tried to crawl, leaving his palm print on the wall. This is according to crime scene assessment reports.
Chebet was found lying next to a plastic chair with a bullet hole on the head that had damaged her jaws.
“They were a nice couple and good officers who were potential for promotion. What befell them afterwards nobody knows,” an officer who knew them both said.
On Monday, the families of both the deceased visited Kiminini Police Station, where they were briefed about the incident.
“We have lost a breadwinner, a young man who had a bright future who served in the police service diligently. As a family we are at loss,” said Mr Joseph Nyakundi, 65, (father of Andari) who hails from Bosamaro Chache location in Nyamira.
A meeting, he said, had been held between the two families.
“We jointly agreed to take care of the children. The firstborn will go with the father’s family while the girl will remain with the mother’s family,” said Mr Nyakundi.
He revealed that they are currently making preparations for the postmortem and funeral arrangements with Chebet planned to be buried first.
Chebet’s brother, Mr John Chemweno, 60, who hails from Kapsamai location in Elgeyo Marakwet, described the incident as unfortunate.
“I have worked in the police force before and during our time, we never witnessed such incidents. I think there is a serious problem in the police force that needs to be addressed immediately so as to put a stop on these frequent cases of killings. We should invest so much on psychological support to help our young men and women in uniform who are battling with stress and depression,” said Mr Chemweno, a retired police officer.
He called on young police officers to be open with their bosses and friends whenever they had stress.
Shocked locals also called for psychological support for police officers in order to prevent such cases.
Speaking at the scene, Mr Jeremiah Njuguna asked the National Police Service to provide psychologists to police officers, who he said experienced rough times in the line of duty.
"This is the second case after a prison officer killed himself in Lessos. These are our brothers and as much as they handle guns they are humans and need support."
