A woman who was shot after being mistaken for the fugitive killer cop Caroline Chemutai Kangogo has told her side of the story.
Ms Phanice Chemutai narrated her ordeal from her hospital bed at the Kitale County Referral Hospital on Saturday. She told journalists that she had never met her shooter, Kitale businessman Ken Muyundo.
“I arrived at Kiminini market from my Kaptama home to help my sister get a birth certificate. I also wanted to look for a college I could join because I am a Form Four leaver. On reaching Kiminini town, I was caught up by curfew time forcing me to get a place to sleep,” Chemutai recalled.
She rented a room for Sh300 and as she was clearing the payment she saw Muyundo’s car.
“It was a black car parked and the occupant, a man in his early 50s, called me but I hesitated. He called me for the second time and the third time he shouted at me saying ‘you girl, I’m calling you,’” she said.
Chemutai said Muyundo asked for her number which he saved and she returned to her room.
“After getting my number, he started pestering me with phone calls that I join him but I declined as we were two. He kept on calling me despite me telling him I was new in Kiminini town,” she said.
“He called me at 8:43 pm while I was preparing to take my packed food and kept on calling until 8:48 pm. So I asked the caretaker to accompany me to see what he wanted because he was still in his car,” she went on.
When they reached Muyundo’s car, the businessman asked her if she was Chemutai and she told him she was.
“He asked me to join him in the car because he wanted to have a brief talk with me. He then gave the caretaker a one thousand shillings note saying it was airtime and asked him to excuse us a bit,” Chemutai said.
After the caretaker left, Chemutai said Muyundo told her that he was longing to see her for a long time.
“I was puzzled after he said he had longed for me as we had just met a few minutes ago,” she narrated.
The assailant then moved from the driver’s seat to the passenger side before he fired his gun.
“After leaning on the passenger side I heard a gunshot sound. Muyundo then started fuming and shouting that it is you Chemutai. I have been searching for you for a long time and I want to kill you,” Chemutai said.
Her pleas that she was not the wanted cop fell on deaf ears.
“He forced me to the ground and cocked his gun prompting me to scream which attracted officers who were on patrol,” she said.
“Muyundo showed the officers the pictures of Kangogo that he had. I told him that I was not the one and that we had just met and wondered why he was mistaking me with the rogue police officer on the run,” she said.
Police took Chemutai to Kiminini police station where they administered first aid on her and also recovered a used cartridge lodged in her pants.
