Woman shot by warders wants justice

A woman shot on Saturday morning as warders hunted down three inmates who had escaped from Kamiti Maximum Security Prison is demanding justice.

Ms Elizabeth Wandahi, 45, is recuperating from gunshot wounds at Kenyatta National Hospital. She was shot three times in the left arm, while the fourth shot is lodged in her left thigh, damaging her bowel control.

“I was driving when I saw the officers. They shot (at) my windscreen and the bullets hit my hand.

“I opened the door, got out and as I turned to run away, they shot me again on my back, here below the shoulder. Did they want to kill me?” she asked.

On Sunday, she lay limp in her hospital bed in KNH’s private wing. She was in intense pain and could barely turn or sit up.

This was hours after leaving the theatre to salvage her shattered left arm.

Ms Wandahi was driving past the prison at around 5.30am to a slaughterhouse in Kahawa West. She said the officers who shot her were in plainclothes.

Kasarani OCPD Francis Sang said investigations were under way to establish who shot Ms Wandahi.

Regional Prisons Commander, Nairobi Area, Ms Wanini Kireri, said authorities were aware of the shooting during the prisoners’ manhunt, but did not mention who were involved. She gave a press briefing after the prison break.

The manhunt for Joseph Kinyanjui, John Kamau Gathoni and Isaac Karanja Mwangi enters its third day today after they escaped at around 1.30am by cutting grills during a power blackout that had engulfed the prison.

They used blankets and mosquito nets to climb down the high walls.