Child witnesses recount last moments with murdered Kwekwe Mwandaza

MOMBASA: The late Kwekwe Mwandaza’s alleged killers were on a mission to kill when they descended on the house she was sleeping in last August, a Kwale court has heard.

Two police officers are charged with the murder of the class six pupil who fell in a hail of bullets last year during a yet to be explained police raid on her uncle’s house last year. Police initially claimed Kwekwe attacked officers with a machete wounding an officer and destroying a gun.

On Friday,  the court trying Kinango DCIO Veronicah Gitau and police constable Issa Mzee convened at the alleged spot where the murder was committed where two minors said to have been present at the time of the killing said incessant pleas from Kwekwe to have her life spared, fell on deaf ears.

“Kwekwe aliwauliza polisi, mnatafuta nani? Mjomba ama nani? Ikiwa ni yeye hayupo, yuko kazini ( Kwekwe asked the police who they were looking for and informed them that his uncle wasn’t home)” said a little boy utterly overwhelmed by emotions.

Taking position as the eighth and ninth witnesses in the case, the two children recounted the winding matrix that has dragged in court since August last year.

“Tulisikia mlango umefunguliwa kwa kishondo sote tukaamka, Kwekwe ndiye aliyesogea mlangoni (We heard a bang on the door that awakened us, and it is Kwekwe who moved closer to the door,” continued the minor.

Ms Gitahi and Mr Mzee, suspected to have killed  Kwekwe, accompanied both the prosecution and defence sides to the remote village.

High Court Judge Martin Muya gave audience to the two sides as they publicly cross-examined the minors.

Kwekwe was shot dead on August 22, at Maweu village, Kinango, Kwale County. An earlier postmortem revealed that two bullets shattered the girl’s skull.

Interestingly, however, initial statements by the police painted the young girl as a vicious attacker who had wanted to harm police officers.