Policeman shot dead by colleagues in Kisumu

BY MAUREEN ODIWUOR

Kisumu, Kenya: A policeman died after he was shot under mysterious circumstances by fellow officers based at Boya Police station in Kisumu County.

The deceased, Martin Kinyua, was in the company of a colleague in a probox vehicle when the incident took place 300 kilometres from the police Station.

According to his family, Kinyua who is based at Litein Police Station in Kericho County was in the company of his colleague when he met his death.

They said the two officers were from Kisumu where they had gone to purchase a piece of land and had been intoxicated with alcohol.

Caroline Wawera, Kinyua’s sister said they were disappointed that their brother died in the hands of fellow officers.

“My brother and his colleague were drank hence they decided to stop the vehicle next to a petrol station in the area, thinking they would be safe,” she said.

Unfortunately, the guards manning the petrol station located at Boya contacted the police who came to the scene and sprayed bullets at the vehicle’s occupants who were asleep, aiming at the back left seat where Kinyua lied.
 

Kinyua had inclined his seat to the back to enable him sleep comfortably not knowing that his death was around the corner.

“Why did the police have to shoot motionless people who were deeply asleep in a vehicle?” Wawera asked emotionally.
 

She also questioned why her brother’s seat was the only one sprayed with bullets yet the other seats were not affected.

Kisumu County Police Commandant David Ng'etich said the two police officers were drank.

He said the security guards manning the petrol station alerted the police that some suspiciously looking people had packed next to their premise hence they suspected them to be thugs.

“There has been a spate of robberies at the petrol station conducted using probox cars hence when they alerted the station, two officers were dispatched to check the situation,” he said.

However, the other officer who was present in the vehicle said he saw five policemen with one police woman.

A spot check at the Probox vehicle parked at the police station revealed eight gunshot marks and according to post mortem reports, he had three gunshot wounds.

The police, however, said Kinyua was rushed to New Nyanza Referral Hospital and complained that it lacked X-ray facilities to help the doctor’s know the exact position where the bullets were logged.

“An operation was done on the victim and two bullets were removed from his back,” said Ng’etich.

Unfortunately the officer died the following day while in Intensive Care Unit.

The family said they do not believe that their brother’s death was a normal accident.

“There is more than meets the eye in this incident, we want to know the truth behind my brother’s death,” said the deceased’s sister.