MANDERA, Kenya, Feb 24 — A Mandera court has convicted a police officer of grievous harm and assault following a violent confrontation linked to a land dispute in 2024.
The Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) confirmed the conviction on Tuesday.
Mandera Magistrate Omondi Cornel Ochieng ruled that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that Abdihakim Abdi Saman assaulted two complainants on May 11, 2024, outside a police station, causing grievous injuries to one of the victims.
The case arose from an incident in which Saman, who was attached to Mandera East Police Station at the time, assaulted 52-year-old Dahaba Noor Hillow during a dispute over vandalism on a family farm.
Medical records and X-ray evidence presented in court showed that Hillow sustained a severe arm fracture as a result of the assault.
The officer was also found guilty of assaulting Al Abdirahman Maalim at the same police station, causing actual bodily harm.
Saman has since been interdicted and removed from the duty roster pending sentencing with the coonviction carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment uneder the Penal Code.
Related conviction in Nyandarua
The conviction comes days after the High Court in Ol Kalou sentenced another police officer to 30 years’ imprisonment after convicting him of manslaughter in connection with the fatal shooting of a civilian in Nyandarua County in 2020.
In a statement issued on February 19, IPOA confirmed that officer William Muriuki Nyaga received the custodial sentence following his conviction on February 4, 2026.
The conviction relates to the fatal shooting of Stephen Githinji Ndiuni on May 24, 2020, at Equator Springs Hotel in Nyandarua North Sub-County.
Nyaga had initially been charged with murder alongside two civilians, Francis Muriithi and Tatio Kamphine, who remain at large.
However, Justice Waweru Kiarie ruled that the prosecution had failed to prove malice aforethought — a key requirement for a murder conviction — and instead found the officer guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
The court acquitted Francis Muriithi, while proceedings against Kamphine remain pending due to his absence.
IPOA, which investigated the case under its statutory mandate to oversee police conduct, welcomed the conviction and sentence, describing them as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen accountability within the National Police Service.
