An officer convicted for unjustifiable shooting will now pay for the injuries he caused from his own pocket, a court has ordered.
The Magistrate’s Court in Kitale, after handing a guilty verdict to Peter Kamau Njoroge, then a Constable at Kolongolo Police Patrol Base, ordered that he should pay one hundred and fifty thousand shillings (Ksh 150,000) as restitution to Mr. Caleb Sakwa Sindani, who was shot at Kolongolo Trading Centre in Trans Nzoia County on December 16, 2018.
In addition, Njoroge was fined one hundred thousand shillings (Ksh 100,000) or in default, be sent to prison for a year.
The Court had on March 8, found Njoroge guilty of using his firearm unjustifiably, an action that occasioned Mr. Sindani to get injured.
The officers had gone to Kolongolo market with the aim of arresting a mechanic identified as Dan, who had been reported at the local police station, allegedly for assaulting his wife.
Read the judgement in this other story
The sentencing took place at the same court on Thursday April 6, 2023.
The 2018 shooting, prompted an investigation by the Independent Policing and Oversight Authority (IPOA), after which the matter was taken to court on the direction of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The court cited The Victim Protection Act during the sentencing.
23. Right to compensation
A victim has a right to compensation by the offender for economic loss occasioned by the offence, loss of or damage to property, loss of user over the property, personal injury, costs of any medical or psychological treatment, and costs of necessary transportation and accommodation suffered or incurred as a result of an offence.
The Victim Protection Act No. 17 of 2014
Delivering the Judgement in Kitale, Resident Magistrate T. O. Omono cited testimonies of two police officers- a Constable and his commander, a Sergeant- who had stood in court as witnesses: “(Their) testimonies in this matter should be considered with the blue code of silence in mind.”
The judgement thus concluded: “It is abundantly clear that the accused person violated the guidelines contained in the Sixth Schedule of the National Police Service Act which enjoins police officers in effecting arrest to always use non-violent means first and only resort to force when non-violent means are ineffective.”