Reprieve for man on death sentence for killing 4-year-old boy

A man who had been sentenced to death for killing his neighbour's four-year-old boy by strangling and chopping off his limbs will now serve 30 years in jail.

John Tembo was convicted and sentenced in 2015 after the prosecution proved that he murdered the boy in Migori. 

In a judgment delivered on March 3 by Appeal Court judges Asike Makhandia and Paul Kiage, they ruled that the circumstantial evidence unerringly pointed to Tembo as the person who committed the murder. 

As for malice aforethought, the judges said, there can be no clearer evidence than the cutting of the limbs of the minor and causing him to bleed to death. 

The judges, however, noted that though the prosecution vehemently urged them not to interfere with the sentence imposed because Tembo killed an innocent child, having considered the mitigation on record, they were inclined to review the sentence. 

"We do so, however, while mindful of the innocence and tender age of the victim and the horrific mutilation he was subjected to. In lieu of the death sentence, the appellant will now serve imprisonment for the term of 30 years from the date of conviction and sentence. Otherwise, the appeal on conviction is dismissed,"  they ruled. 

The court heard that on March 5, 2012, the decapitated body of the boy was found in a bush in what is now Migori county. The deceased was the first-born son in his family. 

At the time of his death, he was attending nursery school. On the day the boy was killed, the father narrated that he had left home early in the morning to go and plough his farm. 

When he returned between 10am and 11am, he was told the boy had not arrived from nursery school, although the other children were already home. 

He went looking for him at the school but on the way, he met his sister who told him she had not seen him at the early education centre. 

On his way back, he heard children screaming, saying they had found the remains of a child in the bush. 

He went to the bush and to his utter shock, found the bod was his son's. His hands had been chopped off at the wrist, while his legs had been chopped off at the ankles. He had also been strangled with a rope.

He immediately raised alarm and locals responded, among them Tembo, who stood at a distance. 

The deceased's mother testified that she woke up at 7am and prepared her son for school. At about 8am, she left him with his aunt who had a pupil in the same nursery school. She went back to do her chores. 

As she did so, Tembo, a neighbour, passed by and talked to her about his lost phone. He left and came back shortly and reminded her about the phone.

He came back for the third time and told her that he had found the phone. At about 11am, she went to her mother-in -law’s place to collect water.

When she came back home, she heard people, including her husband, wailing. She followed the screams and on reaching the scene, she found her son's badly mutilated. 

She noticed Tembo looked restless. 

Two children volunteered information that they had seen the accused with the minor that morning while going to school.

One of them, aged 10, said he saw the Tembo holding the deceased’s hand at about 10am. 

Another witness aged 12 recalled seeing Tembo and the deceased walking towards the school. 

She greeted Tembo twice but he did not respond. 

Dr Vitalis Owour confirmed that the minor’s upper and lower limbs had been cut just above the wrists and ankles. 

He had also been strangulated. 

In his opinion, the boy died of external bleeding secondary to assault as well as strangulation. He also concluded that the injuries were inflicted by a sharp object. 

In his defence, Tembo said he left his home at about 5am and went to plough his farm on that day. 

At about 2pm, he was called by a neighbour who told him that a body had been found with its hands and feet cut and that he was the suspect.

He was told that his house had been burnt and a group of people were looking for him. 

Tembo told the court he believed he was being suspected because of his religious beliefs as he belonged to a religious sect people suspected was involved in devil worship. 

He immediately left the farm and went to his father’s home to hide but was confronted by boda boda riders with Administration Police officers in tow. 

Edited by E.Kibii