Fr Makewa: State evidence ends

D-Day set for Fr. Makewa

By Daniel Kituku

in Wote

Fr Makewa on his first day in court

THE State closed its  attempted murder case against suspended Fr John Wambua Makewa in a Makueni Court, ending episodes of dramatic tales that left a catholic pries for dead.

Fr Makewa in the dock

The Makueni Senior Resident Magistrate  Mr Joseph Karanja set  December 5 2011 as the D-day for his ruling on whether Fr Makewa has a case to answer in the attempted murder of Fr Fidellis Nzuki.
The magistrate agreed with the defense counsel that the counsel shall be given time to put their defense on the same day if  the need arose.
When the case resumed, police presented Professor Benjamin Stephen Mbindyo in the accused’s dock after arresting him following an order by the magistrate for failing to attend scheduled court hearing to give evidence.
Professor Mbindyo who treated  Fr. Fidelis Nzuki gave his testimony, becoming the last witness in the trial. Professor Mbindyo who introduced himself as a lecturer in the University of Nairobi and a Consultant in several City Hospitals informed the attentive Makueni Court that he is an Orthopaedic Surgeon.
He said on March 21 2010 he  attended to the injured  Catholic Priest- Fr Nzuki who said had suffered terrible gunshots resulting to numerous gun wounds.
He recalled how he received his client as a referral case from Makueni District Hospital while on duty at the Mater Hospital. The priest’s injury was so critical hat he had to be admitted in the ICU unit.
In general the priest spend 44 days in the hospital where he underwent three major operations to correct the damage caused by the powerful gunshots.
The  professor explained every detail on how he attended the injured priest and worked on his left hand and his two thighs which were badly torn by several gunshots.
The doctor explained that the left hand of the priest had its ulna bone blownoff and required some alternative bones that he hived from his ribs to repair the damage together with some supporting metal objects. The hand required removal of hundreds of dead tissues and cells in order to save it, he testified.
These injuries resulted in the priest suffering from severe blood hemorrhage and shock, the witness said.
On his thighs several operations were carried out and some skin had to be hived from other parts of the body to fill in the damaged parts.
The court heard that the gunshot partly damaged his nerves which required a ‘long, long time to regenerate and function’. The nerves if fully destroyed could cause paralysis, he told the attentive court.
Professor Mbindyo told the court that his client Fr. Nzuki requires further operations to repair his hand and thighs for he is near to full recovery. In the meantime the doctor stated that Fr. Nzuki is still under medication and undergoing physiotherapy.    
Asked by the prosecutor whether he had removed any foreign body from the priest’s body, the professor affirmed that he had removed several pieces of shrapnel owing to the gunshots. The police showed some pellets which the doctor affirmed that they are the ones he had removed form the body of the injured priest.
The doctor presented his medical report as evidence to the court and also gave a copy of the P3 form which he had filled for the Fr Nzuki.
Earlier on the professor had difficult time in explaining why he had ignored two court sermons requiring him to present himself to the court and give his medical report. His argument that he had no means of transport did not auger well with the resident magistrate Mr. Karanja. The magistrate decried the negative attitude of the professor in regard to presenting himself to give evidence as a professional medical practitioner.  This had forced the magistrate to issue a warrant of arrest for the doctor.
The defense counsel had no questions to the Professor.
Mr.  J. Mwang’ombe, counsel for the defendant Fr. Makewa requested the court to give them a week time to prepare their defense which he stated that it will be a sworn evidence by Fr. Makewa and  they will line up one witness incase the court rules that Fr. Makewa has a case to answer.