A family in Mkaomoto village of Malindi Sub-County, Kilifi County, is demanding justice for the fatal shooting of a kinsman by police officers last week.

Kibwana Safari Kaingu, 31, was shot dead at his house last Friday night when he allegedly threatened to attack police officers who wanted to arrest him for an alleged rape case, according to Malindi Sub-County Police Commander Wilmont Mwakio.

Mwakio, who declined to provide details saying the matter was being handled by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA), claimed that the officers were forced to fire at the suspect after he brandished a machete and threatened to finish them.

The IPOA officials — who witnessed the post-mortem examination conducted by a Dr. Foleni Ibrahim at the Malindi Sub-County Hospital Mortuary — declined to speak to journalists saying they were not authorized to do so.

However, family members told journalists in Malindi town Tuesday that their relative did not have any known criminal record, and that even if he was a criminal, the officers should have arrested and presented him before a court of law.

John Matsaki Chisiwa, an uncle to the deceased father of four, said efforts by the family to seek help from the police in Kizingo and Malindi police stations had been futile as no officer was willing to listen to them.

He said the family was only aware of a land dispute between his nephew and an unnamed person and wondered whether that could have triggered the police action.

Omar Abdalla Omar, the deceased’s brother, said Kibwana was shot at close range from the front to the back as he was attempting to escape from the roof of his house.

“My brother was shot from the front. The bullet passed through his neck from the left then the right side, and I know if he was a criminal running away, he could have been shot from the back,” he said and called for speedy investigations to unravel the truth.

He said during the incident, his brother was staying alone as his wife travelled to Saudi Arabia while his children were staying with relatives.

Eric Karisa from the Kilifi Social Justice Centre urged the National Police Service to come clear on the matter, failure to which his organization would organize massive demonstration against extra-judicial killings in addition to going to court.

He noted that the police action contravenes the right of life as enshrined in the Constitution of Kenya 2010 and the tenet of innocence till proven guilty by a competent court of law.