Two former police officers in Kenya have been sentenced to 35 years in prison for the murder of a man they arrested over a face mask violation during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a ruling delivered at the Eldoret High Court on Monday, Justice Reuben Nyakundi found Emmanuel Wafula, 38, and Godfrey Sirengo, 35, guilty of killing 31-year-old Dennis Lusava while he was in police custody.
The killing took place on October 7, 2020, at Mbururu Police Post in Likuyani, Kakamega County, at the height of the country’s strict enforcement of pandemic-related health measures.
The judge described the act as a gross betrayal of duty. “These officers had everything they needed to protect the life of the deceased, but they chose to end it instead,” he said.
The court heard that the two officers arrested Lusava for not wearing a face mask, handcuffed him inside the police station, and beat him to death. They later placed his body in a gunny bag and dumped it in the River Nzoia near the Bungoma-Kakamega border.
The prosecution, led by State Counsel Sidi Kirengo, called 21 witnesses to testify during the trial, including Lusava’s parents, Safani Malongo and Agnes Ambale. Twenty-seven exhibits were also presented to support the case.
The judge rejected the defendants’ plea for a non-custodial sentence, describing their actions as cruel and inexcusable. “They offered no credible explanation. Their duty was to uphold the law—not to take the law into their own hands,” Nyakundi said.
Lusava, a father of two children aged 9 and 14, never made it out of the police post alive. The court was told he was last seen alive shortly after his arrest, and his body was discovered days later in the river.
The officers had denied the charges throughout the five-year trial.
Human rights activists have long decried the excessive force used by police during the early days of the pandemic, and this case is one of the rare instances where law enforcement officers have been held accountable in court.
As Lusava’s family left the courtroom, tears mixed with relief. “We’ve waited five years for this day,” said his mother, Agnes Ambale. “No punishment can bring back my son, but at least there is justice.”
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