Kakamega man in the dock for not responding to distress call

KAKAMEGA: Next time you hear a distress call, you’d better show up or you could find yourself behind bars.

This is what happened to Pius Mukhwana who was, on September 26, 2010 arrested and charged for the murder of his cousin Epharim Mullungu.

Mukhwana denied the charges but prosecution dutifully lined up nine witnesses against him in a case that would last close to five years and take two judges to rule.

One of these, Taglava Amudavi, mother to the deceased, said she found her son’s body with cuts all over it and when she screamed, neighbours responded but Mukhwana who lived only 50 metres away did not.

When they checked on him, she said they found Mukhwana locked up in his house where he said he’d been asleep. She said they found a blood stained trouser and panga in the house.

Another witness, Jacinta Ambeyi, also claimed to have found another panga buried in Mukwana’s shamba days later while investigating officer Eliphas Gatimu said Mukhwana and the deceased had quarreled on the fateful night. He, however, could not tell the court which weapon was used to commit the crime. On his part, Mukhwana said he heard Amudavi’s distress calls and alerted his cousin Elijah Kangaya with whom they were to go see what the problem was. Mukhwana said he chose to first have breakfast at his house and it is there that Amudavi, who he said was a quarrelsome person, found him and begun making wild accusations against him.

In its ruling, the High Court observed that none of the witnesses directly linked Mukhwana to the murder or provided evidence that did.

“The only thread on which the prosecution’s case is fixed is suspicion. The law is clear that suspicion, no matter how strong cannot form basis of a conviction for any offence,” the judgement read in part.

The court concluded that there was insufficient evidence to pass a sentence against Mukwana.

“It may be true as alleged by the prosecution witnesses, that the fact that the accused did not respond when Mrs Amudavi cried saying her son had been killed, shows the accused had a hand in the deceased’s death but that suspicion alone does not amount to cogent evidence,” it further read.

Following this finding, Mukhwana was acquitted on November 30, 2015.