Man who said officer shot him over football dies in hospital

A man said to have been shot three times by a police officer who was angry after his favourite football team lost in a game has died at the Murang'a Level Five Hospital.

Martin Waweru who hailed from Muruka village in Kandara Constituency was allegedly shot by an Administration Police (AP) officer attached to Muruka AP camp while on his way home from a local bar where they were taking beer while watching the football game.

It is said that the police officer was mad after his favourite team, Chelsea, was beaten by Arsenal 2:0.

Mr Waweru, who talked to the Nation on Wednesday evening before succumbing to the gunshot wounds Thursday morning, narrated how he arrived at the village where he was employed by a gas supplier and decided to go take a beer.

FOOTBALL GAME

It is while in the bar that he met the officer who was watching the game together with other villagers.

He said after taking two mugs of Keg beer he decided to go home and to his wife and daughter. He had bought for them a loaf of bread and a fish.

As he was going out of the bar, a scuffle ensued between the officer and other villagers after the policeman’s favourite team lost.

Mr Waweru said he proceeded to go home but the officer passed him along the way, went to the AP camp and came back with a gun.

At that time, other locals were on their way home from the bar and were behind him.

ORDERED TO LIE DOWN

"Upon reaching where I was he ordered me to lie down and I obeyed. He then shot me three times at the back on my waist, above my back and on my hand and dragged me to the police camp which is 750 meters away and forced me to drink water while I was bleeding profusely,” Mr Waweru narrated from his hospital bed.

He went on, "Locals who were on their way tried to assist me but all was in vain as the officer with the two others thwarted their efforts to have me taken to hospital in a car insisting that I had to be ferried by a police van."

Mr Waweru said he lost his Sh30,000, another Sh20000 which was his two weeks salary and Sh10,000 which he had been given by his boss for re-stock the business.

POLICE VAN

The incident happened between the 8:30pm to 9pm but the police van arrived at 10pm and residents again clashed with the officers.

A villager who sought anonymity said the officer, whom he described as hot tempered, has a tendency of arresting people and demanding bribes whenever his favourite team is beaten. For this reason, most residents always avoid him.

Mr Waweru’s wife, Rose Muthoni, said she heard gunshots from her home only to later find out that her husband had been shot.

She claimed that the officer confessed that her husband was not his main target and that he had wronged.

OCS VISITS

Ms Muthoni, who had camped at the hospital since Saturday when the incident happened, said that the Kandara OCS visited her husband on Tuesday and promised to follow up on the matter to its logical conclusion but expressed concerns that the officer is yet to be apprehended.

"The police officer admitted that he shot my husband but instead of being arrested and charged with murder he has been transferred and I don't think my late husband who was the only source of income to my family will ever get justice.

"I urge the government agencies and the Director of Public Prosecutions to intervene," she said.

THIRD INCIDENT

Peter Macharia, a relative, said that Mr Waweru is the third villager to die in the hands of the police and called on the National Police Service to conduct an inquiry into the incidents.

However, Kandara OCPD Wilson Kosgey said they have started investigations and that they are waiting for the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa) to take over the matter.

“We have launched investigations into the matter and we invite Ipoa to take over but preliminary investigations have shown that there was no justifiable reason that could have led to the shooting of the man since he was not a threat to the police officer,” he said.