• It was the prosecution case that the chief who was 57 years had multiple cuts on the upper body and had excessive loss of blood.
• The upper bone of the left arm was cut, the arm severed. There were multiple cuts on the left side of the face and long cuts on the base of the neck extending to the back.
Image: FILE
Two men who murdered Lamu senior chief by hacking him to death as he went to work have been sentenced to 28 years in jail each.
High Court judge Langat Korir on November 30, sentenced Bwanadi Omar Bwanadi and Abdi Ali Mohamed after the court found them guilty of killing Mohamed Shee Mohamed Omar in 2016.
While sentencing the two, the judge considered the mitigation of the accused.
He said each accused insisted that they did not commit the offence and only asked for leniency so as to be reunited with their families.
They did not express any remorse.
The court also looked at the Victim Impact Statement contained in the detailed report on the security situation in Lamu, prepared by the probation office and the views of the victims contained in the person interviews by the probation officer.
"I must at the outset point out that the numerous murder incidents outlined in the report cannot be held against the two accused. They were not charged with those offences," the judge said.
"The incidents may demonstrate a deteriorating state of security for, which the security agencies ought to find a lasting solution. They are only relevant as a pointer to the need for a deterrent sentences upon conviction."
Korir, however, considered that the murder of a government official, in the case a senior chief who was going about his official duty, is an aggravating circumstance, which calls for a deterrent sentence.
Such an offence may easily lead to a breakdown of law and order with the attendant insecurity.
"Taking into consideration all the factors above, I sentence each accused to serve 28 years in prison," the judge ruled.
It was the prosecution case that the chief who was 57 years had multiple cuts on the upper body and had excessive loss of blood.
The upper bone of the left arm was cut and the arm severed. There were multiple cuts on the left side of the face and long cuts on the base of the neck extending to the lower back.
Dr Kombo who conducted a post mortem opined that the cause of death was severe hemorrhage due to multiple deep cuts.
Bwanadi stated in his mitigation that he did not commit the offence.
He told the court that if they were the ones who were responsible for the many cases of murder in Lamu, then the same would have stopped as they have been in custody for a long time while the killings continued.
Ali defended himself saying he did not commit the offence but they were charged as a result of enmity by the victim’s family.
According to the probation report, the victims of the offence went beyond the deceased’s family and included the villagers and government officials as the deceased was a senior chief.
The report further stated that the victims who were interviewed sought anonymity as they feared reprisal.
That the victims called for a deterrent sentence due to the past antecedents of both accused and also because the murder of the chief led to many other murders targeting government officials.
The report further mentioned officials murdered in Lamu, On April 22, 2019, Amina Bakari, 30 years, who was a volunteer peer educator with the Kenya Red Cross Society and a Nyumba Kumi official.
On December 11, 2019, Mbwajumwali location chief Mohamed Haji Famau and his assistant Malik Athman Shee of Myabogi sublocation were killed by two men who masked themselves in buibui as women.
On October 5, 2019 police constable, Hesbon Okemwa Anunda, attached to the same police post, was killed.
His mutilated body was found dumped in a thicket on the Mbwajumwali-Kizingitini road after disappearing on his way to Kizingitini police station from Tchundwa police post.
On June 8, 2020 a policeman PC Rodgers Odhiambo who was attached to the Tchundwa police post was slashed to death by a machete-wielding gang at Tchundwa Village in Lamu East.