Two Kenyan police officers have each been sentenced to 35 years behind bars for their involvement in the death of a man who had been arrested for not wearing a face mask during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The sentencing was delivered on Tuesday, July 29, by Justice Reuben Nyakundi, who ruled that the prosecution had successfully proven, beyond any reasonable doubt, that the two constables were directly responsible for the tragic death of 26-year-old Dennis Lusava.
The court found that the officers played an active role in the brutal killing, which occurred in 2022 at the Mbururu Police Post in Kakamega County.
Details revealed during the Eldoret High Court proceedings traced the incident back to October 2020, at the peak of the pandemic. Lusava reportedly got into an altercation with the officers for failing to wear a mask, as required by the government’s public health guidelines at the time.
Although he initially escaped arrest with assistance from concerned locals, the officers later tricked him into returning to the police station.
Tragically, what followed was a horrific ordeal. Once Lusava was back in custody, the court heard that he was violently assaulted. Witnesses testified that after being handcuffed, Lusava was repeatedly kicked, punched, and whipped with electric cables by the officers.
Despite suffering serious injuries, he was not given any medical help. Instead, he remained in custody, where he eventually died due to the extent of the torture.
What made matters even worse was the officers’ attempt to cover up the crime. The court was told that after realizing Lusava had died, the two officers removed his body from the station and secretly dumped it in River Nzoia in an attempt to destroy any evidence that might link them to the act.
Justice Nyakundi strongly condemned the officers’ conduct, calling it a shocking abuse of power. He expressed disappointment that the two officers not only acted with cruelty but also showed no remorse for their actions and made no effort to take responsibility.
“This was a deliberate killing, carried out with clear intent, and supported by strong evidence showing that both officers acted in concert to commit and hide the crime,” he said in his judgment.
The court heavily relied on evidence presented by the prosecution, which included testimony from 21 witnesses and 27 pieces of physical and documentary evidence, all of which painted a grim picture of what happened and linked the officers directly to the crime.
Meanwhile, in a different but equally disturbing case, another police officer is facing murder charges after being filmed shooting a vendor during protests in June.
The officer, aged 32, pleaded not guilty in court. The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) urged the court to deny him bond and keep him in custody as the case proceeds, citing the serious nature of the crime.
These developments mark a significant moment in Kenya’s justice system, where calls for police accountability have been growing louder in recent years.
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