Police boss charged with murder of university student to face trial, court rules

The hearing of a case where an OCS is accused of fatally shooting a university student in Kisumu is set to proceed to full hearing after the State prosecutor rejected an offer from the defendant for a plea bargain.

High Court Judge Justice Fred Ochieng on Thursday ruled that Kehancha OCS Sebastian Ambani will face full trial from November 27 this year.

The accused, through his lawyer Richard Onsongo, had opted to plead guilty in return for a reduced sentence.

However, Prosecutor Gloria Baraza objected to the arrangement, saying the State is ready with witnesses to prosecute the case.

Justice Ochieng said the hearing will commence with testimonies from two State witnesses currently under a witness protection agency.

Baraza said the State was incurring high costs in keeping the witnesses under a protection program hence the reason for them to testify first.

The prosecutor further told the court that the family of the slain student had blamed her for the delay of justice to their son, who was a student at KCA University.

Brian Chacha, 22, is said to have been shot by the OCS after an alleged brawl between the two in Mamboleo.

The OCS pleaded not guilty to the murder charges earlier in May and was released on a Ksh.500, 000 bond with a surety of the same amount.