Appearing before High Court Judge Maureen Odero, DCIO Veronica Gitahi and police officer Isaa Mzee pleaded not guilty to killing Kwekwe Mwandaza and were released on a Sh500,000 bond
NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 13 – Two police officers including the Kinango CID boss accused of killing a 14-year-old girl in Kwale have been charged with murder at the Mombasa High Court.
Appearing before High Court Judge Maureen Odero, DCIO Veronica Gitahi and police officer Isaa Mzee pleaded not guilty to killing Kwekwe Mwandaza and were released on a Sh500,000 bond.
The hearing has now been set for November 19 and 20.
The girl was shot dead by police during a raid at their house, as were allegedly looking for her uncle on suspicions of involvement in terror-related activities. Inspector General of Police David Kimaiyo had defended the officers saying they shot the girl after she tried to attack them with a machete.
The assertion was later dismissed by the deceased girl’s family and human rights activists, who termed it an outright murder.
An autopsy sanctioned by the girl’s family and human rights activists contradicted Kimaiyo’s assertions that the officers shot the girl after she tried to attack them with a machete. Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Odour also confirmed that the girl died of a severe head injury, due to a gunshot.
Odour said the nature of the wound indicates that she was shot with a bullet at high velocity.
The Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU) was forced to move to court on September 12 on behalf of the girl’s family in order to exhume her body.
The body was later taken to Kinango General Hospital for a second post mortem.
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