Machakos Man Handed 20 Years in Jail for Shooting Kenya Power Staff with Arrow
- A court in Machakos jailed a local for attacking a Kenya Power staff member with the intent of killing him
- Kioko Kavita used an arrow to shoot at Esau Ogutu after the latter and his colleagues insisted on pruning the convict's avocado tree that had contributed to incessant power outages
- The Kithimani Magistrate's Court handed Kavita 20 years in jail, arguing that he attacked Esau unwarrantedly, as the latter had no underlying issues with him
A Machakos court has jailed a man for attacking a Kenya Power and Lighting Company (KPLC) staff member while on duty.
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Kithimani Magistrate's Court handed Kioko Kavita 20 years in jail after attacking Esau Ogutu in June last year using arrows.
According to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), Esau had accompanied his colleagues to Kithendu Village, which had experienced a power blackout.
The KPLC technicians diagnosed the challenge and established an overgrown avocado tree as a contributing factor, as it interfered with the fuses.
The tree belonged to Kavita.
The staff informed him of the matter and resolved to prune the tree, much to the objection of Kavita.
"The accused person was informed of the danger of the tree, and he was requested to allow them to cut down the tree, which, according to the witnesses, he refused and threatened to attack anyone who would cut down the tree," the ODPP said.
They insisted on pruning it, activating the anger in the man who went to his house and returned with a bow and arrows, with which he attacked Esau.
He shot at the technician, injuring him in the abdomen.
They insisted on pruning it, activating the anger in the man who went to his house and returned with a bow and arrows, with which he attacked Esau.
Esau was rushed to the Matuu Level 4 Hospital, where medics succeeded in rescuing him.
"The officials told him that they would not leave since the village had no electricity. This is when the accused ran into his house and came back with bows and arrows. He retreated a few steps and shot the complainant with an arrow on the right side of the abdomen," the ODPP added.
Kavita was arrested and charged with unlawfully attempting to cause the death of Esau.
The state prosecution lined up five witnesses who testified against the convict.
That Kavita did not challenge the witnesses' accounts proved he was guilty as charged, Principal Magistrate Wechuli noted.
“His overt act of wilfully and carefully placing an arrow on a bow and shooting at the complainant means that he was in the process of killing the complainant. His actions do not amount to a mere preparation to commit the offence; he had put his plans in motion before he was restrained and his bow broken,” the magistrate ruled.
“The accused, on the other hand, had let his tree interfere with the said power line, thus affecting the entire village. For him to turn around and attack the complainant so viciously is unfortunate and barbaric, and he deserves a deterrent sentence,” added the magistrate.
In meting out the sentence, the court factored in the time he spent in custody and ordered that he shall serve 20 years' imprisonment.
In other news, another was sentenced to six years in prison or pay a KSh 10.2 million fine following his conviction for theft and damage to public infrastructure.
George Odiyo was found guilty of tampering with and unlawfully acquiring Kenya Power's essential assets.
His case was heard at the Kitale Law Courts on Tuesday, April 1, where he admitted to all four charges brought against him.
The charges included destruction of energy infrastructure, theft of electrical equipment, possession of stolen items, and unauthorised electrical installations.
He received three-year prison terms for both the vandalism and theft charges, with the option to pay KSh 5 million for each instead of serving time.
For possessing stolen electrical components, he was given a five-month sentence or could opt to pay a fine of KSh 100,000.
An additional five-month term was handed down for conducting illegal electrical work, which is also punishable with a KSh 100,000 fine.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
