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Love for avocado tree earns Machakos man 20 years in jail

A Machakos man has been sentenced to 20 years in jail for shooting a Kenya Power employee with an arrow to stop him from trimming his beloved avocado tree.
An AI-generated image of an avocado
An AI-generated image of an avocado

Kithimani Magistrate's court has sentenced a man to 20 years' imprisonment for shooting a Kenya Power staff member with an arrow while on official duty.

The court heard that Kioko Kavita shot Esau Ogutu Mbadi on June 7, 2024, at Kithendu village in Yatta Sub-County within Machakos County. 

He was charged with unlawfully attempting to cause the death of Esau by shooting him on the right side below the ribs with a bow and arrow.

An AI-generated image of an avocado

An AI-generated image of an avocado

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The complainant was among the Kenya Power staff assigned to prune trees that had encroached on power facilities at Kithendu village when the accused person attacked him.

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The court heard that when the officers reached the home of the accused person, they saw an avocado tree, which, according to them, was the cause of the persistent power outage in the area since it was interfering with fuses.

The accused person was informed of the danger of the tree, and he was requested to allow them to cut down the tree, which, according to the witnesses, he refused and threatened to attack anyone who would cut down the tree.

The Kenya Power officials told him that they would not leave since the village had no electricity. This is when the accused ran into his house and came back with bows and arrows. He retreated a few steps and shot the complainant with an arrow on the right side of the abdomen.

The complainant was later taken to Matuu Level 4 Hospital, where a surgery to remove the lodged arrow was conducted.

Matuu Level 4 Hospital

Matuu Level 4 Hospital

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While delivering his determination, Principal Magistrate P. Wechuli noted that all the evidence from the 5 prosecution witnesses' testimonies, which was not contested by the accused person, proved that the accused made and attempted to murder the complainant.

“His overt act of wilfully and carefully placing an arrow on a bow and shooting at the complainant means that he was in the process of killing the complainant. His actions do not amount to a mere preparation to commit the offence; he had put his plans in motion before he was restrained and his bow broken,” ruled Hon. Wechuli.

The court also found that if the accused person had not been restrained, he would have shot another arrow, which would have led to the complainant’s demise, since the evidence showed he was preparing to shoot a second arrow. 

The court further noted that the complainant had no personal issue with the accused since he was just going about his work of ensuring that the power had been restored at Kithendu village.

“The accused, on the other hand, had let his tree interfere with the said power line, thus affecting the entire village. For him to turn around and attack the complainant so viciously is unfortunate and barbaric, and he deserves a deterrent sentence,” noted Hon. Wechuli.

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In meting out the sentence, the court factored in the time he spent in custody and ordered that he shall serve 20 years' imprisonment.

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