Court visits scene where Meru varsity student was shot dead
Justice Patrick Jeremy Otieno leaves a house in Kabebe village, Tigania Westin Meru on November 10, 2020 when the High Court visited the scene where Meru University student leader Evans Njoroge was shot dead in 2018.
The Meru High Court Tuesday afternoon visited the scene where Meru University of Science and Technology
student leader Evans Njoroge was allegedly shot dead by an Administration Police officer following day-long protests two years ago.
Justice Patrick Jeremy Otieno heard how a police patrol car pursued rioting students in Kabebe village, two kilometres from the university, where the student leader was allegedly gunned down in cold blood as he sought refuge in a farmhouse.
Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) official Beatrice Atieno told the court that the vehicle was tracked as it made rounds towards the area, and it was near the scene when Mr Njoroge was killed.
She showed the court a scene within a private farm where the student leader, who had been nicknamed Kidero, was shot dead under a tree, a few yards from a house where a family was having lunch.
Ms Atieno said the vehicle then travelled to Maua, about 40 kilometres from the murder scene, before being driven back to Nchiru market in Tigania West where the university is situated.
Mr Leaky Maina, who was attached to Miathene AP post, has been charged with the murder which happened on February 27, 2018.
But the session held under a tree was briefly disrupted as heavy rains pounded the area, forcing the court team to shift to a small waiting room in the compound.
Justice Otieno and about 12 other individuals crammed the room as they tried to reconstruct the murder scene as hearing resumes Wednesday.
Testify in camera
The prosecution wants some of the witnesses to testify in camera for their safety.
It is also seeking to redact statements of some of the witnesses and also use pseudonyms due to safety concerns.
Mr Maina has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is out on Sh200,000 cash bail and Sh400,000 bond with surety.
He has also made an application seeking to stop the prosecution from relying on the information collected by IPOA as the core evidence in the case.
He claims that IPOA is usurping the constitutional mandate of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The case continues today (Wednesday).
