A security guard has testified in court about how a police officer shot and killed a man accused of reversing a Sh350 M-Pesa money payment.
Wesley Kirui, a security guard at Salgaa Trading centre in Nakuru, testified in the case where Police Constable Isaac Lekachuma is accused of killing Emanuel Makokha on the evening of October 3, 2017.
Court documents showed that the deceased had taken alcohol at a local pub on October 2, paid via M-Pesa and then reversed the Sh350 bill, forcing the owner to report him to the police.
The court heard that a woman who operates the pub at Salgaa lodged the complaint against Makokha, who they knew as Okwonkwo.
Police officers told her to inform them if she spotted Makokha again. On the said date, she spotted Makokha and alerted the cops.
Testifying before Nakuru High Court Judge Heston Nyaga, the security guard recounted the events leading to the extrajudicial killing, saying Constable Lekachuma shot Makokha in the chest killing him on the spot.
Kirui said he was on duty at Salgaa discussing the state of security in the area with his two colleagues, when they heard gunshots.
They saw a man running towards them and scattered for safety. Kirui said the man followed him and grabbed him from behind in an attempt to shield himself from the cop.
The security guard told the court that the officer ordered him to move away from the man while threatening to shoot.
“This is what forced me to slip from my jacket, which I left with the deceased who was shot instantly. He then pointed the gun in my direction and fired. The shot missed me by a whisker so I decided to run and hide at another spot,” Kirui testified.
The security guard said the officer was determined to kill the man.
Lekachuma, who has since been interdicted, was arrested on May 12, 2022. He denied a murder charge claiming he shot Makokha in self-defense.
The cop claimed Makokha was trying to snatch a firearm from his colleague which forced him to shoot.
The hearing of the case will proceed on May 11.
