KWS warden who faked rescue of girl he defiled jailed for 15 years

Sometime in July 2020, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) warden Ayub Kamau, alias Osman, initiated a romantic relationship with a teenage girl in Lamu. He was serving at the Kiunga camp on the Kenya-Somalia border.

A Lamu court heard that on October 6, 2020, Kamau instructed the minor to go to the camp, where he sneaked her into his house and defiled her.

The defilement continued, and in October 2020, the girl, 15 at the time, became pregnant. Kamau decided to terminate the pregnancy to save himself and his job from the misery that would befall him. He prepared and administered to the girl a cup of concentrated black tea without sugar, with the intention of causing an abortion.

He then conjured up a scheme to make himself look like a hero in the eyes of residents and his colleagues. He took the victim into the forest nearby and hid her. Then he returned to the camp and told his colleagues he had spotted a girl in the forest, and asked for back-up to go and rescue her.

He led his colleagues to the spot where the girl was, about 300 metres from the camp. He walked them 50 metres off the main road to the exact location where the girl was sitting under a big tree.

After a brief questioning, the girl said she had not eaten from the night before and had escaped her father’s wrath after he threatened to kill her. She wore a buibui and a hijab.

Exposed

The wardens, including Kamau, took the girl to the Kiunga Police Station as a "lost-and-found person". However, by the time the girl was presented at the station, the matter was already under intense investigation.

The area chief, and the girl's parents and aunts had got wind of what the warden had been doing to her.

Before the incident, residents and local administrators had on numerous occasions complained about KWS wardens preying on young girls, with no action taken by the authorities.

And so Kamau's schemes would fail spectacularly. He became a prime suspect after the girl, upon interrogation, revealed what had been going on.

Kamau received a police summons to record a statement but showed up at the Kiunga Police Station with a group of his heavily armed colleagues and threatened to shoot the investigating officer.

Also read: Preying on innocence: Is Kenya turning into a playground for paedophiles?

There was an armed standoff at the station, with Kamau and his colleagues intending to intimidate the officer and coerce her into stopping the investigations.

The standoff continued for four hours until a senior KWS officer showed up and disarmed Kamau. The investigating officer then interrogated him over the defilement accusations.

Kamau was later arrested and charged at the Lamu Law Courts with defilement contrary to sections 8(1) and 8(3) of the Sexual Offences Act. The particulars were that between July and October 6, 2020, within the Kiunga area of Lamu County, he intentionally and unlawfully molested the girl.

The alternative charge was committing an indecent act with a minor contrary to Section 11(2) of the Act. He was also charged with abuse of position of authority contrary to Section 24(2) of the Act. The court heard that he took advantage of his position as a warden to defile the minor.

On count three, he was charged with the offence of attempting to procure an abortion contrary to Section 158 of the Penal Code. He denied all the charges.

The victim was among the prosecution witnesses in the case. She disclosed that she had had sex with Kamau three times in his official quarters at the KWS camp before she got pregnant.

Medical examinations conducted at the Lamu King Fahd County Hospital, including an ultrasound scan report and a P3 Form on October 8, 2020, showed the girl was pregnant.

The court heard, however, that around December 9, 2020, the girl lost her pregnancy in unclear circumstances just before she was to give evidence in court.

According to the investigating officer, during the pendency of the case, Kamau eloped with the girl twice (on October 10 and October 27, 2020) during which she was given drugs to induce abortion at the Kiunga Health Centre.

Sentenced

Kamau was charged with the offence in court. Senior Principal Magistrate Allan Sitati Temba, delivering judgment on Monday, stated that Kamau’s actions spoke volumes about his misconduct.

Mr Temba said the actions showed that he was under great duress of a guilty mind and would do anything to stifle the criminal inquiry.

He said Kamau’s misconduct of staging an armed standoff only came from a guilty mind and was aimed at intimidating the investigating officer, who stood firm in the face of threats. 

The magistrate said having considered the evidence by the Director of Public Prosecutions and the defence's arguments, the court found Kamau guilty of defilement and he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Mr Temba further stated that Kamau abused his position of authority and sent him to jail for 10 years. The sentences will run concurrently.

Kamau has 14 days to appeal.

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