This archive report was first published on 3 July 2019.
On June 10, 2019, a dramatic incident unfolded at State House in Nairobi when Brian Kibet, a fifth-year mechanical engineering student at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, attempted to scale the wall while armed with a knife.
Police officers stationed at the premises responded by shooting him in the shoulder, and he was subsequently taken to the Kenyatta National Hospital for treatment.
According to a mental health assessment conducted by Mathari Hospital, Mr. Kibet was found to be suffering from schizophrenia, a severe mental disorder characterized by profound disruptions in thinking, affecting language, perception, and sense of self, as defined by the World Health Organization.
On Wednesday, Mr. Kibet was arraigned in a Nairobi court, where he apologized to President Uhuru Kenyatta for his actions. The court proceedings were delayed as a mental health assessment was conducted, and the charges against him were not read.
Mr. Kibet's family requested the court to allow police transfer him to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital, where he had earlier received mental health treatment. The court will rule on this request on Thursday, while the police want him remanded in Mathari Hospital until he is fit to take plea.
