This archive report was first published on 26 August 2021.
A police officer will face murder charges after allegedly shooting a 16-year-old Form Two student in Nyali Constituency, Mombasa, on August 12, 2016.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) has established that Sergeant John Otieno was responsible for the student's death, which occurred during an encounter at Uwanja wa Mbuzi grounds.
According to IPOA chairperson Anne Makori, the student died of bullet wounds sustained during the incident, and the decision to prosecute was made by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) after reviewing IPOA's evidence.
Contrary to allegations by Kisauni Deputy OCPD Walter Abondo that the student was a criminal and attempted to attack police, a postmortem conducted by Haki Africa revealed that the student died as a result of an injury to the spinal cord and two gunshot wounds.
‘It appears that when Katana was shot the first time, the injuries immobilised him. This would have been perfect for the said officers to handcuff him and have him arrested,’ said Hussein Khalid, then Haki Africa Executive Director.
