Two men of the 2020 murder of a farm watchman who was hacked to death in what the court found was a revenge attack after security guards confiscated a panga and illegally harvested firewood from the accused earlier that day.
In a judgment delivered by Justice Francis Rayola Olel, Joseph Kinuthia Njoroge and Stephen Njoroge Ndungu were found guilty of murdering Muhamed Njoroge Ndungu. The judge held that although no one witnessed the fatal assault, the prosecution proved the case through a strong chain of circumstantial evidence.
The court heard that on May 17, 2020, security guards at Kigutha Farm in Rabai Village intercepted the two accused while they were allegedly harvesting firewood illegally. The guards confiscated their panga and the firewood before escorting them to the farm office. Witnesses testified that the accused became enraged, repeatedly demanding the return of the panga and threatening the guards with revenge. Although they were ordered to leave the farm, they vowed to return, warning the guards that they would “know who they were.”
Later that evening, the two men allegedly returned with a group of accomplices and went to the home of one of the watchmen in search of the confiscated panga. The watchman was away on duty, but his wife testified that she recognized the voices of both accused as they banged on her door, issued threats and demanded the weapon. She raised an alarm, forcing the group to flee. Shortly afterwards, fellow watchman Muhamed Njoroge Ndungu, who had responded to the commotion, was ambushed near a water pump within the farm. He sustained multiple deep panga cuts to the head and fractures to his arm and leg. Colleagues rushed him to Kiambu Level 5 Hospital, where he died the following morning.
A post-mortem examination found that the deceased suffered five deep panga wounds to the head, including fractures at the base of the skull that caused fatal brain injuries. He also sustained fractures to his arm and leg, injuries the court found were consistent with a sustained and vicious attack.
Justice Olel ruled that although there was no direct eyewitness to the killing, the evidence formed a complete chain pointing irresistibly to the guilt of the two accused. He noted that they had threatened the guards after the afternoon confrontation, returned to the farm later that night, and disappeared from the village immediately after the attack. The court also observed that the first accused was arrested days later while hiding in Ruaka, while the second accused remained at large for more than a year before being re-arrested after he was detained for violating COVID-19 regulations.
The judge held that the conduct of the accused before and after the killing, together with the testimony of prosecution witnesses, left no reasonable doubt that they participated in the fatal attack. He further found that the repeated panga blows to the deceased’s head and other vulnerable parts of the body demonstrated malice aforethought. Justice Olel observed that the accused had ample opportunity to abandon their plan after the earlier confrontation but instead returned later that night to carry out what the court described as a calculated act of revenge.
The two men were consequently convicted of murder under Section 215 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
