A group of Coast political leaders, led by Mombasa Senator Mohamed Faki, Kwale Senator Issa Boy, and Matuga MP Kassim Tandaza, have issued a seven-day ultimatum to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) after their officers allegedly shot and killed a man at his home.
The leaders on Friday, January 3, marched to the KWS Coast Region offices in Mombasa to demand justice for the man identified as Issack Jarso Delo.
The leaders are seeking justice for Delo, a resident of Yakiicha Village in Garsen, Tana River County, who was allegedly killed by a KWS officer at his home.
In the incident that happened on December 30, it is alleged that the deceased Delo, 50, was at his home when about 20 KWS armed rangers stormed his homestead and began searching for him.
Undated image of KWS rangers on patrol
File
According to the brother of the deceased, Ahmed Abubakar WarWario, the rangers demanded to be given an unknown number of goats as New Year gifts, but when he turned them down, they shot him several times and sped off.
The leaders have now demanded the arrest of the officer who did the heinous act within seven days.
According to witnesses, after the shooting, the KWS officers came back to collect the body but were repelled by angry residents who had already informed Tana Delta Sub County police about the incident.
The body of the diseased was taken to the Malindi Sub County Hospital Mortuary, where it awaits a postmortem.
The residents revealed that Delo’s case is not the first. They disclosed that the KWS officers are notorious for allegedly torturing and killing residents, then throwing their bodies into the park never to be found.
The call by the leaders who stormed the KWS offices in Mombasa was an echo of a similar call by Garsen MP Ali WarWario, who condemned the incident and demanded the immediate arrest of the officers involved.
The MP blamed the KWS management for allowing atrocities by its officers to be meted out to Garsen residents who reside near the park.
KWS has yet to issue any statement on the matter.
Police placing a suspect in handcuffs during an arrest
Photo
NPS