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| Fr Makewa: Graphics by The Anchor |
CID chief tells Court:
Priest Shot to Kill
By Martin Masai
Former Makueni District Criminal Investigations boss Mr. Joseph Mumira told the Makueni Senior Resident Magistrate Mr. Joseph Karanja that his line of investigations changed abruptly upon recording a statement from Fr. Fidellis Nzuki, triggering a discovery that all Makewa had said in his initial statements to the police were largely untrue accounts.
He said he decided to prefer Attempted Murder charge -that carries a possible life jail term upon conviction- when it became apparent that the shooting was done wilfully .Mr. Mumira testified that upon assembling all evidence available, he concluded that there were no raiders as alleged by Fr. Makewa.
He said the evidence available showed the shooting had a clear intention to kill somebody, leading to the Charge of Attempted Murder.
“What constitutes an attempted murder?”, asked the defense lawyer. Mumira gave two conditions. One is Mens rea (Latin)’ – for knowledge of what one is doing. The second is Free will –choice to shoot or not to shoot. Mumira said he found these two elements full and complete in Fr. Makewa’s act. “This led me to prefer the charge of attempted murder I forwarded the file to the Attorney General who confirmed the charge of attempted murder and gave consent for the charging and prosecution of Fr. Makewa”, Mumira concluded.
Makueni DCIO Mr. Joseph Mumira testified on March 21, 2010 at 6:45 am, he was called at the Wote police station and informed of an alleged attempted robbery at Makewa’s residence. He visited the residence in the company of Constables Odhiambo and Ngure.
They did not find Fr. Makewa at the scene. When he arrived, they asked what had happened and he told them that robbers invaded the house at 2:30 A.M., demanding money. He said he fought them back. He said he came out with his short gun and chased them towards the gate. In the process, he alleged his shotgun got lost and rushed back to the house and picked his pistol and went back to purse the thieves.
He reported he shot three times with his pistol. The police asked to be shown from what point he was shooting. Police combed the area searching for spent cartridges but found none. They went into the house and found a pool of blood where the injured priest had fallen. They searched in the house and outside the house and never recovered any spent cartridge.
They asked Makewa to hand over his guns. He handed in the guns with three spent cartridges and some rounds of ammunition.
Mumira said they observed that four window panes in the house were broken. The panes of three of the windows had fallen to the outside, leading them to conclude that they were broken from inside the house.
The fourth broken window pane was at Fr. Makewas bedroom. It had broken to the inside and on searching the room, they found a stone that was used to bread the glass. The stone was wet.
The DCIO explained that it appeared the glasses were hit with a blunt object but not a bullet. He testified that if it were a bullet, they would leave small holes through the window. Police searched all over the house and there were no bullet marks on walls.
The DCIO later visited Fr. Nzuki in hospital to record a statement and found him in pain. Fr. Nzuki told him he was clear in his mind that he was shot by Fr. Makewa. He later recorded his statement, which he said prompted a different approach in the investigations.
He told the court he returned to Fr. Makewa for further investigation. Makewa again surrendered two more spent cartridges from the short-gun and other rounds of ammunition for the pistol.
Fr. Makewa was licensed to own both the short-gun and pistol. He was licensed to 60 rounds of ammunition for the pistol at any given time. Police recovered from him 60 rounds of ammunition – meaning he never fired a shot from the pistol contradicting his first account to the DCIO.
The fire arms were taken for ballistic examination and a report would be tabled in court.
Cross examined Mr. Mogona he demanded to know if blood samples were taken to Government chemist to determine whose blood it was. The DCIO said this never happened if there was no contention over who had been shot.
Magona also demanded to know conditions leading to one being licensed to carry a gun. Mumira refereed him to be licensing authorities but the Magistrate directed that he gives a response to the question. He said he did not know if Makewa had complied with the conditions to deserve being licensed to carry fire arms.
Sister Jane Francis said she was at sister’s convent 50 meter away from father’s house when she heard six shots that woke her up along with three other sisters. “We thought it was a electric fault. One sister- Salome in charge of the convent called Fr. Makewa to find out what was happening. Makewa told her the residence Was under attack from gangsters but added that things were under control”
She testified that she heard the shots at 5:30 a.m. “After the third bust of shots we heard a scream”, she added. They called for Fr. Boniface Kioko who was in father’s house. He reported father Nzuki had been shot and called them instructing them to come out to join him and Fr. Mutuku.
They went to the Fathers house and found Fr. Nzuki lying in pool of blood. Besides, Fr. Nzuki stood Fr. Mutuku and Fr. Kioko, the court heard
Sr. Francis was categorical that Fr. Makewa was not at the scene when they arrived. Makewa strode into the house a while later and told them to call the male teachers of a nearby St. Catherine’s Primary school to help them lift Fr.Nzuki to a vehicle.
The sisters retorted they did not need help to lift Fr. Nzuki to Fr. Mutuku’s vehicle for they felt the victim needed urgent medical attention.
The three sisters; Salome, Jane, and Sister Nthike, in the company of Fr. Kioko and Parish cook Mr. Munyao and Ex seminarian Mr. Boniface Mutua lifted Fr.Nzuki into the car to be taken to hospital as Fr. Makewa watched.
She was stressed that Fr. Makewa stood by, and never helped them. As they left for the Makueni District Hospital, Fr. Makewa told them he would go to report matter to police rather than accompany them to hospital.
Fr. Nzuki was given first aid at the hospital and was referred to Mater Hospital. Father Francis accompanied the team to Matter.
Cross examined by Mr. Magona for Makewa, the sister was clear that Fr. Nzuki did not mention who shot him. But the fact that Fr. Nzuki was in pain made it unimportant at the time to ask who shot him.
She was firm she heard six shots all sounding so close to the house. An Orthopedic specialist presented a P3 form filled by Prof. Mbindyo who treated Fr. Nzuki and described injuries suffered.
Ex seminarian Bon. Mutua said he saw Fr. Makewa get into the room he shared with Fr. Nzuki holding a gun. He testified that while in Makewa’s bedroom, he saw Fr. Makewa hand over something to Fr. Nzuki. He was non committed if the “something” was a gun although Fr. Nzuki has testified that he was given a gun by Fr. Makewa.
The ex seminarian said he saw Fr. Makewa shoot through the window. The did not see Fr. Nzuki being shot as he retreated after Fr. Makewa’s shots.
Earlier constable Odhiambo narrated his impression on the scene of crime in the company of the DCIO and court Ngure. He said Makewa alleged that the alleged raiders occupied a wide area, shooting at the father’s house. No cartridges were found in the area after a search by police. Hearing adjourned to September 19 2011 after defense sought time to study report by the ballistic expert. The expert was listed as next witness.
Non of the witnesses who have so far testified have indicated seeing or hearing gangsters on the fateful night,
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