Ex-KDF major accused of killing his family says he was unfairly sacked

A former Kenya Defence Forces major accused of killing his family says he was unfairly sacked.

Peter Mugure accused the Defence forces of failing to follow the law in dismissing him.

Appearing before the Employment and Labour Relations Court Judge Justice Onesmus Makau on Tuesday, Mugure who has sued over stoppage of his salaries told the court that the KDF erred in law in the way it tried and sacked him.

In the suit, the petitioner wants the court to quash a disciplinary trial presided over by the Laikipia base commander on November 18, 2019 that found him guilty.

Following the trial, the suit shows that the government stopped remitting his salary the following year.

On Tuesday, Mugure said he was presented before the base commander just a few hours after his arrest on the allegations of killing his wife Joyce Syombua and two children- Prince Michael and Shanice Maua.

Prior to the summoning, he said, the military did not provide him with the evidence it intended to use against him 24 hours prior to the trial, as expected by law.

“I was not also given the option of whether I preferred being tried before the court martial or other avenues of seeking redress,” he said.

In his testimony to the court, the petitioner faulted the proceedings saying that the base commander was not supposed to preside over the matter since according to the KDF Act, he was not considered an impartial and independent authority.

Before subjecting him to the trial, Mugure said that the military officers ought to have subjected him to a mental assessment but this did not occur.

He said that during the disciplinary committee hearing, he was not psychologically ready to stand trial, a circumstance which the senior military officers failed to consider.

During cross-examination by the government’s lawyer, Brian Tororei, the petitioner refuted claims that he wrote a resignation letter which led to his dismissal from the army.

Lawyer Tororei had told the court that Mugure wrote a resignation letter on November 14, 2019, which contributed to his dismissal from the army.

Even though the petitioner had been found guilty and sacked from the army, the state lawyer told the court that it had not provided him with a record of the proceedings and decision that found him guilty because of the military’s regulations.

“Such documents contain classified information about the army posing a security risk. But if the petitioner or the court requires them, the Defence ministry will provide them on confidentiality grounds,” said the state lawyer.

While allowing the government’s request, Justice Makau ordered the state to provide the documents before court today.

The case continues on December 14.