Carilton Maina murder: Court orders mental test for policeman

The High Court on Thursday deferred murder charges against a police officer accused of killing University of Leeds student Carilton David Maina on December 22, 2018.

Justice Grace Ngenye Macharia ordered a mental assessment for Police Constable Emmanuel Ambunya Oyombe at the Mathari hospital in Nairobi ahead of his plea-taking on April 23.

The medical procedure is mandatory before an accused person is charged with a capital offence, punishable by the death penalty in the event the person is found guilty.

Mr Oyombe, accused of killing the student in Kibra slum, Nairobi, will be charged next Thursday.

He was arrested on Wednesday after the office of the Director of Public Prosecution concurred with the Independent Policing Oversight Authority’s recommendation for murder charges against him.

Maina had been walking home after watching a late night football match broadcast live on television at an entertainment joint in Laini Saba, Kibra.

The student had returned to the country from West Yorkshire to spend the end-year holidays with his family and had not had any run-ins with the law.

Speaking to the press after the court session, Maina’s brother Collins Onyango said the officer’s arraignment gave the family hope.

The IPOA recommended the murder charge on May 16, 2019 after completing its investigations into the incident.

Amnesty International’s Country Director Irungu Houghton noted that what happened to Maina is what happens to dozens of youths across the country every year.