A General Service Unit (GSU) officer, Josephat Mauti, will remain behind bars after the Court of Appeal upheld a previous ruling sentencing him to 20 years in prison for fatally shooting a bar attendant in Kisii.

The incident occurred on April 11, 2019, when Mauti, armed with a rifle, walked into a bar in Kisii town and began making threatening remarks in Ekegusii, saying he would shoot someone.

Moments later, he gunned down an employee who had asked him to pay for food and drinks he had consumed.

Despite denying responsibility for the shooting, multiple testimonies, including that of fellow officers, contradicted his claims.

Corporal Ezekiel Kiomi, the officer in charge of the station’s armoury, testified that Mauti admitted to killing someone.

After retrieving Mauti’s firearm, Kiomi found one bullet missing from the 30 rounds issued earlier that evening.

In his defense, Mauti claimed he had gone to the bar after work and, while still in uniform, heard a gunshot and ran out in confusion.

He said he didn’t know how the shot was fired but later admitted to a colleague that he had discharged a bullet. He was immediately arrested after surrendering the weapon.

The High Court convicted Mauti of murder in July 2019, finding that the attack was deliberate and unjustified.

On appeal, Mauti argued that there was no clear evidence of premeditated intent, but the Court of Appeal disagreed.

In a ruling dated April 4, 2025, the appellate judges concluded that the killing was both senseless and brutal, stating that the victim, an unarmed and innocent worker, died from severe internal injuries after being shot at close range.

The court ruled that the original sentence was fair and supported by strong evidence.

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