KWS Rangers’ Student Shooting Deemed Justified by Makindu Court
The court has concluded a case in which a Form Four student, seventeen-year-old Benedict Kyule, was allegedly shot in Tsavo National Park.
After four years of investigations and a public inquiry into the fatal gunshot, a court in Makindu has closed the case file.
The court ruled that the officers acted lawfully and that the deceased was responsible for his own mortality within the protected area.
Kyule was a KCSE exam candidate at Kiuani Secondary, Kibwezi East, Makueni County, at the time of his demise in 2019.
Benson Nyaga Ireri, Senior Principal Magistrate of Makindu, oversaw the investigation to determine if there was sufficient evidence to prosecute three Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) officers based in Mtito-Andei.
The officers were on assignment when the teen was shot and killed.
According to the court, the shooting occurred in the Komboyoo area under unclear circumstances.
Eleven witnesses testified at the public inquest, including the father of the deceased, Kioko Muli, and three officers, Ibrahim Godana, George Otieno, and a fourth officer identified only as Kitheka.
While delivering the verdict, magistrate Ireri stated that the deceased was actually inside the park with unidentified poachers who may have evaded a gunfight.
According to the findings, at the crime scene, there were four spent cartridges from a 303 rifle, a homemade weapon that the poachers purportedly used.
However, there was no direct evidence that the firearm in question was used by the deceased student.
“During their patrol in the Komboyoo section of Tsavo West, the officers heard gunshots discharged in their direction at approximately 3 a.m., near a watering hole frequented by wild animals. “They immediately took cover, laid down, and began firing back to defend their own lives and those of the wild animals,” the magistrate explained.
In light of the circumstances surrounding the shooting, the court determined that neither illegal nor excessive use of firearms occurred.
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“I did not discover any omissions or illegalities in the excessive force used by the three KWS officers, according to my findings. Ireri ruled that it is unfortunate that the deceased caused his own calamity and untimely death in Tsavo National Park in the wee hours of the morning.
The court questioned the student’s presence in the park at such an early hour of the morning.
“According to the area chief, the lad was a frequent visitor to the park and would frequently hunt dik-diks. The court determined that the shooting occurred at night and that the officers were shot in the dark; what were they to do? Accordingly, I believe the three officers acted lawfully to protect their lives and the wildlife.
Shortly after the court session, the father of the deceased, Mr. Muli, expressed displeasure with the verdict, stating that the court had failed to link the boy to the pistol.
“My son was such an uncompromising Christian. How could he use a rifle if he didn’t know how to use the local bows and arrows?” Muli was interrogated during an interview.
Mr. Mutinda Kimeu, the family’s attorney, stated that the family is dissatisfied with the verdict and will file an appeal.
“The officers admitted that they had killed the lad. There was no link between the recovered firearm and the decedent. No justice has been administered. We will appeal to the Supreme Court,” stated Kimeu.
According to the autopsy report from the Makindu sub-county hospital, the boy perished from excessive bleeding caused by gunshot wounds to the chest that penetrated the lungs.
KWS Rangers’ Student Shooting Deemed Justified by Makindu Court
