Policewoman shoots herself while on duty at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport

The late Corporal Gaudencia Wausi Muinde. PHOTO: COURTESY


KENYA: A female police officer attached to the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport Wednesday morning shot herself dead while at work.

The officer is said to have used her pistol to burst her head in a lavatory at about 7 am, her seniors said. She was identified as Corporal Gaudencia Wausi Muinde and was a former GSU officer attached to the airport.

There were signs of her being frustrated or being stressed when she posted a message on her Facebook account saying she felt disappointed.

"Life is so difficult when you live in a world where everybody is planning evil against you and what happens when you can’t hold it anymore strength to support the few people who love and cherish you? You are left with no other option other than.... So help me God," read the message.

Other sources said she had been posted to a unit in the city and later recalled to the airport without an explanation, which upset her.

Her friends left Rest in Peace messages on her Facebook following the death.

Kenya Airport Police Unit Deputy Commandant Rono Bunei said they were shocked by the death and investigations had been launched.

"She had been on leave and resumed work today (Wednesday). She had been well with her colleagues and did not show any signs of being frustrated. We later learnt she shot herself in a toilet here," said Bunei.

Her colleagues said she removed her beret and swagger cane and placed them on a table at the Control Room before going to the lavatory before a gunshot was heard.

Her body was found on the toilet seat leaning to the left side while in uniforms. Her official Jericho pistol was in her hand.

The body of the officer, a mother of one, was taken to City Mortuary.

The suicide comes just three weeks after an officer attached to the traffic department in Kisumu shot himself dead.

Police Constable Alfred Ndalana, a motorcycle officer, shot himself using a colleague's rifle after expressing fears about the vetting exercise. Such cases have been on the rise with frustration being blamed on the same.