FORMER POLICE INSPECTOR AT MALABA POLICE STATION FACES MANSLAUGHTER

A Busia court was told that a former police inspector at Malaba Police Station Alexander Kihara who is facing a manslaughter charge was threatened before recording a statement.
A Kakamega lawyer defending Inspector Siro Ombae told the court that his client was threatened by the former Busia district criminal investigations officer John Kemboi before recording a statement from him because he was his boss.
Ombae said that Kemboi who is senior to Inspector Kihara holding the position of Superintendent of Police forced him to sign the statement without his will because there was no third party at the time of recording the statement as the law requires.
“Your honor, I want to inform this court that my client was threatened and forced to sign the statement by the recording officer  who is the former Busia DCIO Kemboi because he is his boss,” Ombae told the Busia chief magistrate Daniel Ogembo.
Ombae said that the former DCIO violated the law by recording a statement from Inspector Kihara without having the third party according to the law.
Ombae complained that the the original firearms movement register book at Malaba Police Station was still missing since the case began and has never been produced in court to date.
“Your honor, the original firearms movement register book at Malaba Police Station is still missing and has never been produced in this court to date despite demanding for it,” Ombae said.
“The law says that a statement is not supposed to be recorded by the investigating officer the way Kemboi did and it is supposed to witnessed by a third party,” Ombae said.
He said that the DCIO had informed the accused that he would face dire consequences if he did not sign the statement which he had recorded from him.
However prosecutor Inspector Tom Nyabuti denied the allegations saying that it was the first time for the lawyer to come up with such statement since the case started last year.
“Your honour, claims made by the defence lawyer is a mere allegation and could not be taken seriously by the court,” Nyabuti said.
Responding to the allegations, Kemboi told the court the suspect recorded the statement voluntarily without any threats, intimidation or force adding that he did it willingly,” Kemboi said.
Kemboi said that he asked the suspect if he was ready to produce another third party witness before recording the statement but he declined saying there was no problem at all.
The court was told that on  November 2011 Inspector Kihara shot dead the late police Coprol Mohamed Harow within Malaba Township.
The court was further told that on the material day, Inspector Kihara was in company with the former Malaba police station OCS Peter Ndungu at Mama Kevin Café when a man entered through the door running into the kitchen.
It was said that the man was being followed by two people and it was when Inspector Kihara removed his pistol and fired two shots in the air to scare them off.
The late Harow was pronounced dead on arrival at Kocholia district hospital but his colleague Joseph Kirimi escaped death by a whisker after being shot in the left arm.
Kemboi who is the DCIO for Igembe North and South sub counties in Meru county respectively told the court that the officers were on night patrol duty when the incident took place saying that he was informed about the shooting at 1.30 am.
He said that the deputy PPO from Kakamega headquarters travelled up to Malaba Police Station that night after learning about the incident.
The court was told that Inspector Kihara was taken to Busia Police Station where he was put in custody awaiting for investigations following the incident.
The court was informed that Inspector Kihara surrendered the Ceska pistol which he had to former Teso North police boss Eliphas Korir.
The four pistols which had been issued to the three police officers who were on night duty patrol that night and the one of Kihara had were taken to ballistic expert in Nairobi by second investigating officer in the case Benson Labot.
The case will be heard on  December 1 2014 when an open submission will be done by the defence and prosecution respectively before the magistrate making his final ruling.