Court attack: Makadara Magistrate Kituvi succumbs to gunshot injuries
Monica Kivuti, Principal Magistrate, Makadara Law Courts who was shot in court on Thursday has died, Chief Justice Martha Koome has announced.
In a statement on Saturday, Koome said the Magistrate “lost the fight against the extensive injuries sustained during an open gun attack in Court”.
“The Judiciary family stands in solidarity during this deeply traumatic time and calls for sensitivity and compassion as we share in grief,” she said.
Principal Magistrate Kivuti was shot in Court Room Number 9 on Thursday afternoon soon after she had delivered a ruling in a case involving the wife of a police officer.
The police officer, Chief Inspector Samson Kipchirchir Kipruto, the Officer Commanding Station (OCS) at Londiani Police Station in Kericho County, was unhappy with the court’s decision.
A situation report on the incident indicated that the officer went berserk and opened fire on the magistrate and others at 1.45pm.
“His wife, one Jenniffer Wairimu, 48, was an accused in a case of obtaining money by false (sic) pretenses amounting to Sh2.9 million,” the report seen by the Nation reads in part.
“His wife had pleaded to be released on cash bail but the court did not grant. He entered inside the court through the magistrate’s door and fired shots towards the magistrate, injuring her on the chest and left hip.”
The officer, detectives say, “was countered and fatally shot by a fellow officer who was in the court”.
In the process, three other officers were injured, according to the report, which does not indicate the person responsible for the injuries.
The injured officers were identified as Augustine Michael Kithumbi, who was hit in the left eye; Maureen Lepes, who sustained a gunshot in the left leg, and Eunice Macharia, who sustained an injury on the left hand.
“All the injured were rushed to hospital in stable condition. A Jericho pistol was recovered at the scene… and body of the deceased officer moved to City Mortuary awaiting autopsy.”
Sources say an argument ensued between the officer and court orderlies before the police officer opened fire on the magistrate.
In a statement, Chief Registrar of the Judiciary Winfridah Mokaya said the incident happened during an open-court session.
“The magistrate cancelled the bond for an accused person (the officer’s wife) who had jumped bond and had failed to offer satisfactory explanations for jumping bond. Immediately this decision was pronounced, a person (the officer) shot at the magistrate and injured her on the hip”.