Two Kilifi brothers sentenced to 12 years for killing sibling

On January 7, 2011, in Shauri Moyo village, Kilifi County, Mwadizwe Dosho and his nephew Ali Mwabari were living in fear of their own family members.

A month earlier, Mwabari’s youngest brother Saha, had died under unclear circumstances and their siblings Mohamed Tawa (17), William Juma (21) and Salim Shauri (27) had been blamed for his death.

The brothers now accused Mwabari of being a wizard and threatened to kill him if they saw him anywhere in the village.

Afraid for their lives, Dosho and Mwabari made a formal report to the area chief and Kaloleni Police Station before going into hiding for fear of being lynched.

However, after a month of hiding, Dosho and Mwabari decided to go to their homesteads to harvest cassava and collect herbs from their houses since they were practicing traditional healers.

On February 6, 2011 Mwabari and Dosho met with Assistant Chief Liston Chobogo and told him of their intention to go to their homes.

He however, warned them against the plan saying their relatives were still at large and posed a danger to them.

Mwabai however, disregarded the warning and went to his home. After a few hours of harvesting cassava he went into his house to collect his belongings under the watchful eye of his uncle Dosho.

While at the house, a crowd armed with pangas, rungus and stones descended on them.

Dosho suffered a deep cut on his hand but was able to escape the mob to an adjacent farm where he asked the security guard to offer him protection and call police.

Unfortunately by the time police arrived on the scene they found Mwabari had been slashed to death by the crowd.

Police arrested brothers Tawa, Juma, and Shauri then arraigned them in court charged with the murder of Mwabari.

In their defense the brothers denied any involvement in the death of Mwabari and claimed to be at home during the incident.

The court sentenced Tawa to be detained at the President’s pleasure because he was under 18 while Juma and Shauri were to serve life imprisonment.

Dissatisfied with the court ruling, they appealed and Mombasa Court of Appeal Judges Milton Asike, William Ouko and Kathurima M’inoti freed Tawa.

The appellate judges also noted that they were first offenders and that the previous sentence was harsh and excessive. They reduced it to 12 years in prison.