A Nairobi court on Monday convicted tour operator Tom Oywa Mboya of the attempted murder of K'Osewe Ronalo Foods proprietor William Guda Osewe.
Mr Mboya was accused of trying to kill Mr Osewe and another man, Wilfred Ombunya Tembula on December 1, 2016.
At the Milimani Law Courts on Monday, Milimani chief magistrate Martha Mutuku said he was found guilty and will be sentenced on October 4.
Ms Mutuku said the prosecution, led by Anderson Gikunda, presented overwhelming evidence to warrant a conviction.
"It is not disputed that Mboya shot Osewe. He did so not once but four times,” the magistrate said.
Mr Mboya denied the charges of attempted murder in 2017 and was released on a cash bail of Sh300,000.
In 2019, however, he admitted to shooting the restaurateur but argued it was in self-defence after Mr Osewe threatened him.
Tom Oywa Mboya at the Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi on September 27, 2021, when he was convicted of the attempted murder of K'Osewe Ronalo Foods William Guda Osewe in 2016.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation Media Group
In her lengthy judgement, Ms Mutuku said Mr Mboya shot the complainant several times after shouting at him claiming that he would shoot him.
The court considered the testimony of a security guard who heard him shouting and saw him raise his gun and shoot several times at the complainant.
The magistrate further noted that a doctor from Aga Khan Hospital, who testified in court, said Mr Osewe had a bullet lodged in his body and had even developed other problems as his spine was affected.
"l dismiss the defence, as the prosecution has proven the attempted murder charge, then find him guilty of the offence under 215 of the Criminal Procedural Code."
She added that the submissions by the defence, saying spent cartridges were found where Mr Osewe lay, did not weaken the prosecution’s case as he was a legal firearm holder.
"The accused person, being a trained user of firearms, ought to have contemplated the act of shooting in public could have caused injury to the public," the magistrate noted.
Following the shooting incident, Mr Osewe was taken to AAR Hospital at Garden City Mall and later to Aga khan Hospital.
K’Osewe Ronalo Foods proprietor William Guda Osewe leaves the Milimani Law Courts on September 27, 2021.
Photo credit: Dennis Onsongo | Nation Media Group
The prosecution asked the court to treat Mr Mboya as a first offender and consider the nature of the case.
In his mitigation, the accused, through lawyer Benjamin Makokha, pleaded for a non-custodial sentence, saying that failing to grant this would amount to condemning the society that has been depending on him.
“My client is a polygamous family man with several children who depend on him for survival”, Mr Makokha said.
Mr Mboya will stay at the Industrial Area Remand Prison until October 4 while the court await a pre-sentencing and victims impact report.
