Following a guilty verdict against a former police officer who fatally shot a teacher in Kakamega, the High Court Thursday sent him to prison for the rest of his life.
Sitting in Kakamega, Justice W. Musyoka on January 20, established that Patrick Oita Nyapara murdered Christine Maonga at Navakholo, Kakamega County after he shot her in the head.
She was a teacher who together during happier days prior to the incident, was in a relationship in which a baby girl was born.
This brings to an end a nearly four-year search for justice, which began with an investigation by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority following the death of the teacher on March 14, 2019.
During the incident, the court established that Patrick Oita Nyapara, who served in Administration Police Service, used his officially-issued firearm to commit the heinous crime.
Prior to the shooting, the court found that the officer had arrived at Maonga’s house in Nambacha Sub location, and engaged her in a verbal exchange that deteriorated into a physical altercation.
“That set of facts were given by witnesses, who were next-door neighbours to the deceased. They were at the scene. They saw the accused come to the house, they heard the two quarrel, they saw the deceased rush outside, heard gunshots or saw the accused fire the gun at the deceased, saw the deceased fall, and saw the accused flee the scene,” Musyoka said in the judgment.
Self-defence
The Court on September 17, 2021, ruled that the accused had a case to answer, and put him on his defence.
Nyapara then cited self-defence, saying he had sired a child with Maonga and had visited the home but was confronted by another man.
He said that he arrived there at around 7 pm and found her neighbours outside, greeted them and went into the house.
He added that when he entered the house and sat, the deceased emerged from the bedroom and asked him why he had gone into her house, asked him to leave and never to visit without her consent.
Nyapara also said, a man emerged from the bedroom and charged at him with a stool, prompting him to cock the gun, as they engaged in a physical tussle.
The court however found that the accused caused the death with malice aforethought. The officer’s colleagues told the court that he was on duty at the armoury, issued firearms to his colleagues, took a gun from the armoury, and then went to the deceased’s house.
“The fact that he took a firearm when he was not required by his duty on that material day, and went with it to the house of the deceased meant that he had the intention to use it on someone,” Justice Musyoka said.
The judge said that the accused’s allegation that there was another man inside the house did not pass muster, as there was no evidence to support it.
Prior to the incident, Nyapara and Maonga were in a relationship that culminated in the birth of a baby girl, who was three at the time of the incident and is now aged seven years.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority opened an investigation into the incident which also drew a probe by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.
Prior to sentencing, Nyapara had pleaded with the Court to show leniency, saying he was a first offender and remorseful.
He added that he was the sole breadwinner of his family – a wife, children and an ailing mother – and also, he wished to reconcile with Maonga’s family.
The prayer for leniency was countered by Maonga’s family as well as the Director of Public Prosecutions who both called for a deterrent sentence – A Life In the Penitentiary.
