Man named by witness was freed on murder charge
A woman cries outside the Kiambaa church in which several people were burnt to death. Mr Stephen Kipleting Chamalan, the man who was widely mentioned by the first witness against Deputy President William Ruto and radio presenter Joshua Sang at the ICC, was accused and acquitted of being involved in the Kiambaa church fire. FILE PHOTO
What you need to know:
- The four were set free by Justice David Maraga after the hearing in which 31 prosecution witnesses, most of them survivors of the church incident, testified. It took one year for the case to be concluded.
- The court also wondered why out of the alleged 4,000 masked raiders who allegedly attacked the church, only four were arrested.
- He said he heard of the Kiambaa fire, which consumed 35 lives, on radio while he was away.
Mr Stephen Kipleting Chamalan, the man who was widely mentioned by the first witness against Deputy President William Ruto and radio presenter Joshua Sang at the ICC, was accused and acquitted of being involved in the Kiambaa church fire.
He was among four men charged with the murder of seven people at the Kiambaa Kenya Assembles of God (KAG) church in Eldoret on January 1, 2008.
Mr Chamalan, who is County Rep for Ngeria Ward in Uasin Gishu, was charged with Mr Julius Rono, Mr Emmanuel Lamai and his younger brother Mr Clement Lamai.
The four were set free by Justice David Maraga after the hearing in which 31 prosecution witnesses, most of them survivors of the church incident, testified. It took one year for the case to be concluded.
Justice Maraga said there was insufficient evidence for a conviction and accused police of shoddy investigations.
“Out of 100 suspects, it is better to acquit 99 criminals than convict one innocent person,” the judge said.
“I fault the police for failing to present the incident properly, that way I have placed the blame where it belongs,” he said.
The court observed that although the attack occurred in broad daylight, it was impossible to positively identify the culprits.
The court also wondered why out of the alleged 4,000 masked raiders who allegedly attacked the church, only four were arrested.
THE BURNING CHURCH
The judge said Mr Chamalan and his brother Clement were identified by some of the witnesses as having tried to rescue people from the burning church, while the evidence against Mr Lamai and Mr Rono was unreliable.
In his defence, Mr Chamalan said a witness had framed him because she was bitter after he dismissed her from his campaign team. He vied for Ngeria Ward seat in the 2007 General Election.
“Ngeria, which hosts Kiambaa church, is my political stronghold. How then could I burn the very people on whose doors I had been knocking in search of votes?” he asked the court.
He said he heard of the Kiambaa fire, which consumed 35 lives, on radio while he was away.
Mr Chamalan dismissed the evidence of the witness, saying, she wanted to get back at him because she had called him on December 31, 2007 asking him to go and rescue her parents in Kimuli, but he refused.
He did not expound to the court why he refused to go rescue the witness’s parents.
After he was acquitted, Leting’ read a scripture from Psalm 124 which propped his proclamation that indeed it took the hand of God for him to be free again.
