Lamu Senator wants probe into the shooting of his father by police

Lamu Senator, Anwar Loitiptip, has called for investigations into an incident where his father was shot and seriously wounded by a police officer allegedly for failing to wear a facemask at their rural home in Laikipia North Sub County last Sunday.

The Senator, speaking on Tuesday in Nanyuki town said that his father David Kiwaka 65 was shot on the thigh after a confrontation with five police officers from Doldol station as he waited to board a vehicle to Nanyuki who roughed him up before the shooting incident.

The incident is said to have happened at Kiwanja Ndege area at 12.15 pm before Kiwaka was rushed to Nanyuki Cottage hospital where he is currently receiving treatment.

“My father was shot on the leg in broad daylight at noon for allegedly failing to wear a facemask. Does failing to put on a mask warrant someone to be shot?” posed the Senator.

Loitiptip adds that the officers pounced on his father with kicks and blows as he pleaded with them to let him retrieve his facemask from the bag he was carrying but they would hear none of that and when he attempted to escape he was shot on the leg.

“We have since established that police constable Joseph Watila fired that shot that injured my old man and now we want the Independent Police Oversight Authority (IPOA) and the National Police Service to get to the root of the matter expeditiously so that justice can be done,” the Senator said.

He added that the police had a mandate to follow the rule of law and wondered why they would shoot someone for failing to put on a facemask.

When contacted over the issue, Laikipia County Police Commander Maxwel Nyaema however disputed mzee Kiwaka was shot for failure to wear a facemask but said that the victim was part of a group of members of the public who attempted to rescue a suspect who had been arrested at Kiwanja ndege area.

Nyaema added that Kiwaka stabbed one of the police officers with a Maasai sword on the hand prompting the confrontation that saw him get shot.

“The officers had gone to arrest a suspect named Peter Mureithi for assaulting his wife, but immediately he was nabbed about 10 members of the public descended upon them in a bid to rescue the suspect leading to the confrontation,” Nyaema said.

He further added that investigation into the incident were still ongoing.