Kingi condemns Malindi police for shooting schoolboy

Kilifi Governor Amason Kingi has condemned Malindi police for shooting a Class Six pupil while helping an Indian tycoon to evict squatters at Migingo area of the town.

Kingi said the police had no reason to shoot an innocent schoolboy on an issue of land dispute which could be addressed amicably without causing bloodshed.

The governor vowed to take up the matter with the Independent Police Oversight Authority so that action is taken against the rogue officers.

''Land issues cannot be solved with a gun. I had earlier sat with a team of security led by the county commissioner and agreed with them that if there was a dispute or a court order, before implementing, it must be taken to the county to ensure smooth implementation without causing bloodshed," he said.

The governor said it was unfortunate that the police shot an innocent boy who was from school. He called on IPOA to launch investigations into the matter.

''Had the police used tear gas it would be understood but why use live bullets on innocent people who were not a threat,'' he said.

The boy from Maziwani primary school is nursing gunshot wounds at the Malindi subcounty hospital.

He was shot on  the leg as he fled from police who were allegedly helping an Asian tycoon to evict residents of a disputed land. 

 The drama unfolded after the tycoon claiming ownership of a disputed parcel went to Migingo to survey the land.

Locals confronted him and demanded to know why he was surveying land which did not belong to him.

They asked him to produce a title deed to prove he was the legal owner, which he failed to do.

A fracas ensued forcing the police officers who had accompanied to call for reinforcement from the Malindi police station.