Court Exposes Coverup And Convicts Police Officer For Murder

UPDATE: The officer, then Constable Yunus Athman, was on Thursday, February 12, sentenced to life in prison. Lady Justice Wendy Kagendo Micheni said the court had considered mitigation, the pre‑sentence report, and the victim impact statement before settling on a custodial term for the remainder of his natural life.

The court also noted that as a police officer, the convict had a statutory duty to protect life but instead used unlawful force against a defenceless civilian.

The judge observed that abuse of state power strikes at the heart of justice and must attract a deterrent penalty.

The court also heard Omar’s family; that they continue to suffer psychological trauma following the killing, describing the act as malicious and a betrayal of public trust.

The judge directed Athman to exercise his right to appeal within 14 days against both the conviction and sentence.

Three years after Mbaraka Maitha Omar was shot dead by a police officer, the High Court began hearing witness accounts on what happened that day, at a village in Likoni, Mombasa County. It also looked at evidence adduced by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority, which investigated the September 2018 incident. What followed is a discovery of coverup in an attempt to evade justice and further a second murder – Mr. Albert Wekesa, a bodaboda rider who was present during the shooting and was thus lined as a key witness was killed before he could testify

From defying summons by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority, a key witness being killed in cold blood, to a cover up by a senior police officer, a police Constable was finally convicted for the murder of a 21-year-old man in Mombasa County.

The verdict brings to closure, the fatal shooting of Mbaraka Maitha Omar at Mweza village on September 10, 2018.

He was shot twice – in the head and neck – while enjoying a cup of tea as he sat at the veranda outside his brother’s house, and thereafter the officer called for a vehicle and fled the scene.

At the scene: madrassa teacher, undercover police officer and a bodaboda rider

IPOA launched investigation into the killing immediately, details which were revealed during a three-year trial at the High Court in Mombasa, culminating into the judgement on October 22, 2025.

At around 10am the officer Yunus Athman, who the locals knew as Manu arrived at the home on a motorbike.

It was carrying another pillion passenger – Mohamed Karega Kassim, a Madrassa teacher – and the rider was Albert Wekesa.

In the course of the investigation, the teacher who was initially charged alongside the officer was turned into a State witness while the rider, Mr. Wekesa was found dead in Kwale.

She overheard him talking on phone saying “au sio huyu (is he not the one)?,” she added.

In total, the prosecution called twenty-one witnesses including police officers, a pathologist and ballistic experts.

The court also heard the Constable was attached to a crack unit christened SPIV, which comprised of undercover officers who reported to the Station Commander at Inuka Police Station, Mr. Patrick Lumumba.

It is the finding of this Court that the prosecution has properly proved the charge contrary to section 203 as read with section 204 of the Penal Code against the accused person. I therefore find the accused person guilty and he is convicted under Section 322(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code – Lady Justice A. Onginjo

Shaky defence

After the Court ruled that Yunus had a case to answer, he mounted a defence claiming that he fired the shots in self-defence after the victim attacked him with a machete.

His commander, OCS Mr. Lumumba told the Court that he saw the machete at the scene.

“He (the commander) said that the machete he saw besides the body was recovered but the same was not in court. He said he could not remember if the machete was documented,” according to court documents.

But this line of defence was discounted by the IPOA investigation.

IPOA established that an OB (Occurrence Book) entry showing the victim being armed with a machete was “cover up,” citing 15 witness statements recorded by its investigators.

Moreover, the Authority reached out to the officer to tell his side of story on two occasions – on September 13, 2018 and December 13, 2028 – but he disobeyed the summons.

Defence dismissed

In finding the officer guilty of murder, Lady Justice A. Onginjo considered his defence but disputed it nonetheless.

“The accused person has alleged that he was in imminent danger and needed to protect himself from the attack by the deceased. It was his evidence that the deceased attacked him with a panga and though Karega and the bodaboda rider managed to escape he was not able to. He aimed at the head of the deceased instead of the hand that he alleged held the panga. He did not only shoot once but after the first shot he bent over and shot again at now very close range. The action demonstrated malice aforethought,” read part of the judgement. 

Citing IPOA’s findings, the Judge concluded: “As a senior officer and OCS of Inuka police station it was suspicious that he could not tell how he handled the said exhibit despite having been one of the first responders at the scene. It can only be concluded as the Investigation Officer (IPOA Principal investigations officer James Njuru) said, that the OCS wanted to cover up for the Accused after he fatally shot at the young boy.”

The officer was also interviewed and his statement recorded by IPOA, regarding the murder of the bodaboda rider, Mr. Albert Wekesa.