NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 8 – A police officer accused of shooting and killing two protesters in Kisumu at the height of post election violence has a case to answer.
High Court Judge Fred Ochieng on Monday put constable Edward Kirui on his defence saying the prosecution has established a prima facie case against him.
Justice Ochieng said that evidence adduced by the ballistic expert showed that the bullets recovered from the bodies of the victims came from the firearm that was used by the accused on the fateful day.
Defence hearing is set to begin on April 21. Mr Kirui who is represented by lawyer Joseph Mitto has denied committing the offence in January 2008.
Meanwhile, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR) has been given three days within which to file and serve Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta with points of objection in a case in which he is seeking orders to expunge his name from a report linking him with the post election violence.
Judges Abida Ali Aroni and Roselyn Wendo directed lawyer Pheroze Nowrojee representing KNCHR to serve Mr Kenyatta’s counsel Desterio Oyatsi with points of objections after the latter said the matter could not be heard because the rules of procedure which are mandatory when filing a suit were not followed.
Mr Oyatsi was also given three days within which he should respond to the objections and serve the respondents.
The bench adjourned the matter to February 22.
Mr Kenyatta wants the constitutional court to expunge his name from the report claiming the Commission never gave him a chance to be heard before making its findings public. Mr Kenyatta has denied involvement in the skirmishes which left over 1,000 people dead and 600,000 displaced.
The Finance Minister moved to court seeking to quash a report by the Commission linking him to the violence. The report claims he participated or was involved in the said violence by funding organised gangs in Central Province.
But the Gatundu South MP says that he was denied a chance to defend himself before the Commission made the report.
He is accusing KNCHR of being unreasonable and applying double standards in the investigation because it gave other affected parties the right and opportunity to be heard.
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