Kitui policeman kills girlfriend, another woman in Kitui flees
By Zadock Angira, August 5, 2025A Police Constable attached to Kanyonyo Police Station shot dead his girlfriend and another woman in whose house she had sought refuge at Kanyonyo market, Kitui County, on Sunday, August 3, 2025.
The homicide-suicide case comes barely a month after another Constable from Tembelio Police Station in Uasin Gishu shot dead his girlfriend and another man in a suspected love triangle.
Police said that after the fatal shooting of the two, Constable Benard Siambe then threw away his AK47 rifle and disappeared towards Matuu town.
A member of the public had earlier reported to the police that a person, armed and in police uniform, was causing chaos at Password Bar in Kanyonyo.
As the officers were preparing to visit the scene, they were informed that the officer had already shot dead the two women.
Assigned duties
According to the local police commander, Constable Siambe had been assigned duties at the report office and was issued with the AK-47 rifle loaded with 30 rounds of ammunition.
While at the bar, he picked a quarrel with the girlfriend and followed her to a nearby house where she had gone to seek refuge.
He shot her dead, together with another woman, only identified as Judy. Senior officers visited the scene and recovered three spent cartridges, which had been taken for ballistic analysis.
“The assailant communicated with OCS, whom he informed where he had dropped the rifle. Officers conducted a search and the firearm, loaded with 26 rounds of ammunition, was recovered in a thicket beside the road heading to Matuu,” a police citation reads.
It adds: “Officers pursued the officer towards Matuu, and he was spotted walking towards Matuu and escaped immediately in the nearby thicket. A search was mounted, but he is yet to be arrested.”
The two bodies were transferred to Kitui Level V Hospital, awaiting post-mortem.
Such killings involving officers, especially males, have been attributed to gun availability and access, amorous jealousy and real or perceived infidelity among other factors.
At least 15 officers have killed or seriously injured their spouses or girlfriends in the last two years due to love triangles or other domestic issues.
On June 27, 2025, a Police officer from Tembelio killed his girlfriend and another man in a suspected love triangle at Kokwet Bar in Jua Kali area in Ainabkoi, Uasin Gishu.
Suspected infidelity
Constable Jackson Kirui confronted his girlfriend over suspected infidelity. When another man attempted to calm the altercation, the officer allegedly opened fire, killing both at close range. The bar is said to be owned by the female victim.
On May 11, 2025, a General Service Unit (GSU) Constable shot dead his lover, Sheila Mokoya, a teacher, and her daughter before turning the gun on himself in Mokowe, Lamu County.
Teacher Mokoya was shot twice, while her daughter, aged 5, was shot once. The two had quarrelled the previous night, according to neighbours.
In a related case in Langata in May 2023, another police officer shot dead his girlfriend and a colleague’s wife before turning the gun on himself.
The colleague’s spouse was shot after she responded to a distress call. The officer had been deployed on night patrol duties but excused himself to pick something from the house.
He went to the house and locked it from inside before he shot his girlfriend. He shot himself in the neck, and the bullet exited from the back of his neck.
Colleagues said the officer appeared troubled around that time.
In March last year, a female police officer, Constable Tiffany Wanyonyi, attached to Kiwanja police post in Kahawa West, Nairobi, was hacked to death by her husband after an alleged domestic altercation in Webuye, Bungoma County.
Attended funeral
The deceased had travelled upcountry together with her husband Jackson Oloitele to attend a funeral before an argument escalated into a fatal attack.
“The deceased’s body was found lying dead on the bed with several deep cuts on the neck and multiple injuries on the head, suspected to have been inflicted by a sharp object. A panga suspected to be the murder weapon was recovered from the scene,” the police report read.
The husband later surrendered himself to the police station.
According to police reports, some intimate female partners of male officers have been subjected to a patriarchal order in their romantic relationships, which are characterised by domestic violence.
Such cases of violence have escalated, until the female partner was shot multiple times with a service firearm by her amorous partner when she tried to end the abusive relationship.
There are cases where male officers have also been victims. In June 2023, an officer who was due to retire was brutally murdered in Kipipiri, Nyandarua County, in a suspected love triangle.
The body of Corporal Joseph Kahungu Wambugu was found lying in a pool of blood at Tulasha shopping centre, where he had gone to buy cigarettes at around 7 am.
The body had multiple deep cuts on the face, neck and left shoulder. His right hand was chopped off at the wrist, and his right leg was also chopped off from the ankle joint. The main suspect, John Thiong’o Kinyanjui, the lover’s former wife, was later linked to the murder.
Locals told the police that the deceased had an affair with the suspect’s wife, which led to their separation of the two.
Among the worst cases was in December 2021 in Kabete when Constable Benson Imbasi shot dead six people, including his girlfriend, and seriously injured two others in Kabete before he killed himself.
The officer first killed his wife by shooting her in her neck, before he walked out of his house and started shooting at innocent members of the public.
He also shot dead three young men and a boda boda rider at N Market within Kabete. The three men were mourners who had just attended a funeral preparations meeting for one of their loved ones at Mountain View.
“After killing the three, the cop then turned his rifle on two boda boda riders, one of whom lost his life while undergoing treatment at the Kenyatta National Hospital. The boda boda rider had woken up early to first deliver loaves of bread at different shops.