Man jailed 15 years for attempted murder

Kakuma Law Courts has sentenced a man to 15 years imprisonment for attempted murder.

Ekolong Edapal was accused of shooting Emmanuel Ekalees in the buttocks in Turkana West, over claims that he was his enemy.

Kakuma Senior Principal Magistrate found that Edapal committed the crime with the intention of killing the complainant in June last year.

The prosecution said that the man shot the complainant with an unlicensed firearm in Oropoi on June 29, 2023.

The prosecution told the court that an AK47 rifle which was in Edapal’s possession had no serial number.

The court also found the accused person guilty of being in possession of a firearm without a license.

“The accused admitted ownership of the AK47 rifle and ammunition. The defence by the accused was not plausible and lacked reasonability,” the court ruled.

On Tuesday, the court sentenced Edapal to 15 years imprisonment for attempted murder and seven years each for possession of unlicensed firearm and ammunition.

The court ruled that the three sentences would run concurrently.

“All sentences to run concurrently. The sentence to commence from July 25, 2023 when he was arraigned in court,” said Senior Principal Magistrate C A Mayamba.

Mayamba found that Edapal was a trigger-happy man who shot the victim when he (the accused person) was not in any danger.

“The accused shot the complainant under the belief that he was an"enemy " a position which lacked reasonability,” the magistrate ruled.

Meanwhile, the court granted Richard Lokaale Sh200,000 bond and a surety of a similar amount. He is accused of defiling a 16-year-old girl.

Prosecution told the court that the accused intentionally defiled the complainant identified in court documents as A.L on February 17, 2024 in Kakuma town.

Lokaale denied the charges. The case will be mentioned on February 26, 2024.