NAIROBI, Kenya, May 13- Two Administration police officers who were found guilty of killing a woman in 2018, at the City Park in Nairobi, have pleaded for mercy as the victims family narrated the ordeal they have to live with, without their loved one.
The family spoke of a divided household, a child waiting for the return of her mother years after she was killed and buried…a traumatic incident that continues to haunt them.
The two police officers killed Janet Wangui Waiyaki and shot her nephew Bernard, while they were in a car and claimed that they were responding to a terror alert.
It was established that Wangui and Bernard had not resisted attempts by the police to arrest them.
On Tuesday, the High Court found the two, William Chirchir (36) and Godfrey Kirui (28) guilty of manslaughter.
They will know their fate on Thursday next week, when Lady Justice Stella Mutuku will issue her ruling.
Through their lawyer Robert Onyango, the two officers said given another chance, they would do better.
The court found that their actions were reckless, with no justification since there was no threat to their lives or that of other people.
“My lady if they could have the time turned back, a lot of things would have been done differently. As the defence, my lady we appreciate your judgement and your reasoning,” the lawyer submitted.
-Consider the Victims Family-
But the prosecution urged the court to consider the plight of the victims and their family members who depended on her.
“A young life was lost which cannot be brought back,” the prosecution submitted.
Wangui’s husband, through lawyer Gicheha Kamau termed her death as premature saying “her life will never be brought back.”
He asked the court to consider the fact that the 41-year-old left young children aged 2 and 12 years.
“The young one has been waiting for the mother to come back,” he said.
“The husband, who is in court today, was left without a life partner. He takes care of the children, deals with the day to day businesses. The death left disagreements with in-laws who are in court today and has resulted in multiple court cases, we ask you to consider all these issues.”
The victim’s lawyer, Edward Mbanya, who has been hired by the International Justice Mission (Kenya) also shared the husband’s sentiments.
“What has been left out about the children is that the eldest child is in high school now, the young, the 4-year-old has just joined Primary School. She had a business that has now been left to be handled by the mother,” Lawyer Mbanya said.
“The victims, all of them, mother, husband and children have suffered immense psychological trauma. We urge you to consider all these.”
-Who are the two officers? –
Police constable Chirchir has been in the police service for 10 years and according to his lawyer, “he doesn’t have a previous record.”
“He has tried to serve this country to his very best. He is married to a 35-year-old, has two children aged 7 years and 1 year old respectively.”
The court heard that he is the sole breadwinner of his family and “he also has a mother, a widow who is 75 years old, has ulcers and requires daily medical care. He has also been taking care of his 2 siblings and has acute ulcers and is on medication.”
With the submission, the lawyer said, “We are pleading for mercy, your honour.”
Officer Kirui is aged 28 years and has been in the police service for 6 years.
He is also a father of two children aged 2 and 4 years respectively.
“His mother who is 50 years old depends on him, she is terminally ill. She depends on him for medical care. If he is taken away from her, she will not survive,” his lawyer said.
“He is deeply sorry for what happened on the material day. He pleads for leniency.”
The two officers pleaded for non-custodial sentencing.
Should the court decide to give them a custodial sentence, the lawyer urged the court to consider the 6 months period they were in remand before they got bail.
They argued that their freedom and comfort was also taken away at that time.
“They are deeply and genuinely remorseful. If sentenced to serve, they might eventually lose their job and benefits and that’s what family members rely on,” Lawyer Onyango said.
The conviction of Chirchir and Korir comes barely two months after another police officer was found guilty and convicted for the murder of a fisherman in Naivasha in 2014.
In both cases, International Justice Mission (IJM-K) represented victims in court. IJM Kenya Country Director Benson Shamala said the conviction of the two is yet another big step in holding errant police officers to account for using excessive force against unarmed citizens.
Shamala said the conviction sends a message that those in power will be held accountable in court if they abuse it.
“We will continue to demand for accountability for any errant police officer who violates the law,”said Shamala
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