• Judge says evidence incriminates the Anti-Stock Unit officer.
• Other two suspects were arrested, charged with robbery but set free due to lack of evidence.
Image: GEORGE MURAGE
One sheep went missing in Lake Naivasha's Crescent Island five years ago. Just one sheep.
An Anti-Stock theft officer was so eager to find that sheep and nab the culprit or culprits that he shot a fisherman to death.
That was in 2015
It took a long time but now Evans Maliecha Wiyema will stand trial for murder.
The High Court in Naivasha yesterday ordered a police officer to stand trial for allegedly fatally shooting a fisherman in Lake Naivasha.
Justice Richard Mwongo said Evans Wiyema, who is attached to the Anti-Stock Theft Unit, has a case to answer over the murder that sparked demonstrations in Naivasha.
Based on the evidence adduced by prosecution witnesses, the judge ruled there was enough proof to incriminate the accused.
Through his lawyer F.I Mburu, Wiyema said he would issue a sworn statement, adding that he did not have any witnesses.
The charge sheet read that on July 25, 2015, on Crescent Island in Naivasha, Wiyema fatally shot Moses Wanyoike in the head.
According to the prosecution, the deceased was fishing near Crescent Island together with his friends — Johnson Ndichu and Douglas Tutu — when the weather turned bad and they took shelter on the island.
According to evidence before the court, a day before the killing, a sheep belonging to Crescent Island had been reported missing.
Following the disappearance of the sheep, the owners of the Island filed a complaint with the police.
Wiyema and his colleagues went to the site in search of the sheep and pursuit of suspects.
As they were patrolling the area, they spotted Wanyoike and his friends and ordered them to surrender.
The three are said to have continued fishing, prompting the officer to shoot in their direction, leading to the death of Wanyoike. He was shot in the head.
The body was discovered on July 27, after an uprising and demonstrations against the police in Naivasha.
The two other suspects were arrested, charged with robbery but a lower court set them free due to lack of evidence.
After they were acquitted, the Independent Policing Oversight Authority and International Justice Mission filed a case at the High Court seeking to have the officer held accountable for the murder.
The DPP also concurred with IPOA’s recommendations and directed that Police Constable Evans Maliachi Wiyema be charged for murder.
There whereabouts of the sheep were not known.
The hearing continues on August 31.
Edited by R.Wamochie