A man in Machakos County has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for shooting a Kenya Power employee with a bow and arrow while he was on duty.
The court heard that the incident occurred on June 7, 2024, in Kithendu Village, Yatta Sub-County, when Kenya Power staff were on assignment to prune trees that had encroached on electricity lines. During the operation, technicians identified an avocado tree within the compound of the accused, Kioko Kavita, which they said was interfering with power fuses and causing persistent outages in the area.
When asked to allow the removal of the tree, Kavita resisted and threatened the officials. According to witness accounts, the technicians explained that the outage had affected the entire village and insisted that the tree had to be cleared. Kavita then retreated into his house, returned armed with a bow and arrows, and fired at the complainant, Esau Ogutu, striking him in the abdomen.
Ogutu was rushed to Matuu Level 4 Hospital, where doctors performed surgery to remove the lodged arrow. Testimony from five prosecution witnesses confirmed that the accused had deliberately attempted to kill the victim.
In delivering judgment, the court emphasized that Kavita’s actions went beyond threats and amounted to an actual attempt on the life of the complainant. By carefully aiming and shooting the arrow, he had already set his plan in motion and was preparing to fire a second arrow when he was restrained.
The court also noted that Ogutu was simply carrying out his official duties and had no personal conflict with the accused. It further ruled that Kavita had endangered the welfare of the entire community by allowing his tree to disrupt the power supply and then violently attacking a worker tasked with resolving the problem.
The magistrate described the act as both vicious and barbaric, warranting a strong deterrent sentence. After considering the period Kavita had already spent in custody, the court ordered that he serve 20 years in prison for the offence.
