22 years jail for 67-year-old man who killed relative during family brawl

THE Court of Appeal has upheld the conviction and 22-year jail term of a 67-year-old man found guilty of stabbing his relative to death during a family fight in Lamu county.

Justices Agnes Murgor, Francis Tuiyott, and Pauline Nyamweya dismissed the appeal by Omar Lola Hussein, who had challenged his conviction for the 2018 killing of Issa Hussein Shidho at Basuba in Lamu East subcounty.

Hussein was convicted by the High Court in Malindi in July 2021 after Justice Reuben Nyakundi found him guilty of murder and sentenced him to 22 years in prison.

The appellate court found that the evidence presented at trial “was ironclad,” confirming that Hussein fatally stabbed the deceased after briefly leaving the scene to arm himself with a knife.

According to court records, the confrontation began around 7 pm on September 28, 2018, when a quarrel broke out between two sisters, Aisha Rashid and Shida Rufi, at their home in Basuba. Their mother, Miriam, stepped in to separate them. The appellant, who lived nearby, arrived and struck Miriam with a stick.

The commotion drew the attention of other family members, including Omar Hussein Shidho and the deceased, Issa. When they rushed to rescue their mother, Hussein briefly retreated to his house, returned armed with a knife, and stabbed Issa in the abdomen before fleeing.

A postmortem conducted by Dr John Adul confirmed that Issa died from severe internal bleeding caused by a deep abdominal stab wound that perforated his gut and other organs.

At his trial, Hussein denied the charge, claiming that he was provoked and attacked by several relatives during the scuffle. He said the deceased and others had beaten him unconscious and that he only learned later he was being blamed for the death.

The High Court rejected his defence, ruling that the attack was deliberate and the force used excessive. The judge held that Hussein’s decision to leave the scene, retrieve a knife, and return to stab the deceased proved intent.

In his appeal, Hussein argued that the case was marred by contradictions, poor lighting, and unreliable witnesses. He said key witnesses, including Miriam, were not called to testify and that the prosecution failed to prove intent beyond a reasonable doubt.

The prosecution maintained that multiple witnesses saw the stabbing and gave consistent accounts of the incident. The knife used in the attack was produced in court as evidence.

The appellate judges agreed, finding the witnesses credible and their accounts consistent. While acknowledging the fight occurred at night, the court said the relatives were in close proximity and could clearly recognise one another.

The judges further held that Hussein’s actions demonstrated clear intent to cause serious harm or death. “He left the battleground, went to arm himself with a knife, and used it to stab the deceased,” they ruled.

The Court of Appeal dismissed claims of contradictions and missing witnesses, saying they were minor and did not weaken the prosecution’s case.

“As the evidence implicating the appellant is ironclad, and there was no appeal against sentence, we accordingly dismiss the appeal,” the judges concluded.

The judgment was delivered in Malindi on November 7, 2025.