Kenya Defence Forces officer Benard Kibet was discovered murdered outside a club in Nakuru Town West sub-county on the night of November 26, 2019.
Clement Kiprop Chesire was arrested and charged with his murder after CCTV footage analysis from the Kaptembwa bar.
The police alleged that Chesire fought Kibet to death over a woman who was with them at the club on the night of November 25 and 26, 2019.
Five prosecution witnesses, including a pathologist, police officers, and bar staff, were lined up to testify against Chesire, aiming to secure a conviction.
However, after four years, Justice Hedwig Ong’udi acquitted Chesire under section 306 (1) of the Criminal Procedure Code, ruling no case to answer due to insufficient evidence linking him to the murder.
The release of Chesire raised questions about the quality of the police investigation. According to the judge, the prosecution failed to establish why Chesire was arrested and charged with murder.
Bernard Kirui, a police officer, testified that they found Kibet dead at the scene and arrested Chesire from a bar in Nakuru town based on CCTV footage.
Dr. Sila Kisingu, a pathologist, conducted the post-mortem, revealing Kibet’s injuries but not definitively linking them to Chesire.
Witness accounts from Eric Kiprotich and Dorcas Chepchumba described a fight at the club involving Chesire but did not provide evidence of his involvement in the murder.
Justice Ong’udi emphasized that while the cause of death was determined, the prosecution failed to prove who killed Kibet or their role in the murder.
The police could not articulate why Chesire was arrested, and the CCTV footage was not presented as evidence.
The judge concluded that the evidence presented could not sustain a conviction, leading to Chesire’s release and embarrassment for the police and prosecution.