Former Administration Police officer jailed 40 years for killing colleague in Samburu

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A former Administration Police officer has been sentenced to 40 years in prison after being found guilty of murdering a fellow officer in Maralal, Samburu County.

The High Court in Nanyuki convicted Patrick Marwa, 40, of the murder of Dancun Cheruiyot, finding him guilty of the offence contrary to Section 203 as read together with Section 204 of the Penal Code.

The case was prosecuted by State Counsels Esther Kimani, Jackson Motende and Maina Kimaru.

The court heard that on May 4, 2019, at around 5.30 p.m., Marwa, who was then attached to the Administration Police Line Two camp in Maralal, reported to the armoury where he was issued with a G3 rifle, serial number J54854, and 20 rounds of ammunition before proceeding for night duty.

Evidence presented in court showed that Marwa and Cheruiyot were waiting at the camp’s main gate for transport to their duty station when Cheruiyot, who was in charge of discipline at the camp, instructed Marwa to surrender his firearm after informing him that he would not be deployed to the China construction site.

The prosecution told the court that an argument broke out between the two officers over the directive.

During the confrontation, Marwa allegedly cocked his rifle and shot Cheruiyot 10 times, killing him on the spot.

The court heard that after the shooting, Marwa handed the rifle to another officer, who returned it to the armoury. He was later arrested and taken to Maralal Police Station, where the incident was officially reported.

Investigators who visited the scene recovered 10 spent 7.62mm cartridges and the G3 rifle that had been issued to the accused.

Cheruiyot’s body was taken to Samburu County Referral Hospital Mortuary, where a post-mortem examination confirmed that he had sustained 10 gunshot wounds.

In delivering the judgment, Justice A.K. Ndungu ruled that the prosecution had proved the charge of murder beyond reasonable doubt.

The judge said the evidence presented, including witness testimonies, findings from the crime scene and the post-mortem report, demonstrated that Marwa acted with malice aforethought in unlawfully causing the death of his colleague.

The court subsequently convicted Marwa and sentenced him to 40 years’ imprisonment.