Man who killed neighbour over chicken charged

By Joel Ngugi

Nairobi, Kenya: A man, 26, has been charged with killing a neighbour over a chicken.

Joseph Mwenda appeared before Kibera Law Courts Thursday. The court heard that on February 13 in Ongata Rongai, Kajiado County, he killed Samson Ngosi Buyeta.

The deceased and the accused were neighbours. On the fateful day, the wife of the accused allegedly hit Buyeta’s chicken with a stone killing it. Buyeta confronted the accused. The confrontation led to the killing.

During investigations, police recovered the knife the accused used to stab his neighbour.

Initially, the accused had pleaded guilty to the charges only for him to change his plea. The prosecution informed the court of intention to substitute the charges from murder to manslaughter.

“The Director of Public Prosecutions had noted that “the fatal act does not constitute required standards to sustain a conviction of murder but can sustain manslaughter,” said the case’s prosecutor.

Senior Principal Magistrate Juma Osolo granted the accused a bond of Sh1 million with surety of same amount, with an option of cash bail of Sh500,000. The case will be heard on April 3.