Family of man killed by police vehicle seeks Boinnet intervention

Benson Muhalia who escaped death and hospitalized in Mukumu hospital when a police vehicle hit the motor bike that he was riding killing his father at Bushiangala. The family has been forced to use their own money for treatment and the burial of their father will be on Saturday 5, 2017. Photo by DUNCAN OCHOLLA

The family of a man who was killed by a police vehicle has asked Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet to bring to book the officers they claim caused the accident.

The family also say they have been asked to repair the police vehicle that was involved in the accident.

Isaac Likuli met his death last Tuesday, when he was knocked down by a police vehicle in Bushiangala, Ikolomani.

Witnesses claimed the three policemen in the vehicle at the time were drunk.

In an interview with The Standard from his hospital bed at St Elizabeth Mukumu Hospital, Benson Muhalia, who  survived the accident, said Mr Boinnet should punish the officers for the death.

Mr Muhalia was riding the same motorcycle as Likuli, his uncle. He dismissed a report from Khwisero Police Station saying he was on the wrong side of the road when the accident occurred.

"The police vehicle was being driven at very high speed and it veered off the road and knocked me. The driver was also talking on the phone when he knocked me," he said.

Muhalia asked the Government to help him pay his medical bills and cater for his uncle's funeral expenses.

Multiple fractures

Stanley Kinuthia, the hospital administrator, said the boda boda rider suffered multiple fractures.

Western Regional Police Co-ordinator Moses Ombati however said the family's claims were uncalled for as the officers were not speeding.

Mr Ombati maintained that the boda boda rider was on the wrong side of the road, adding that the rider endangered the lives of the three officers in the police vehicle.

He said the police would not be held at ransom to compensate the family or pay hospital bills. [Nathan Ochunge]