The High Court in Kisumu has sentenced two brothers to 14 years in prison each after they pleaded guilty to manslaughter of a teacher in Nyakach under a plea bargain agreement with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).
Justice Joe M. Omido handed the sentence to Dayon Okello OChieng, 25, and Emmanuel Opiyo Ochieng, 21, after they admitted to the unlawful killing of Charles Ogweno Ogolla.
The brothers had initially been charged with murder but later entered into a plea agreement with the prosecution, resulting in the charge being reduced to manslaughter.
According to court records, the attack followed a church service during which allegations of witchcraft were publicly directly at the convicts’ father.
The prosecution told the court that the brothers confronted Ogolla as he returned home from the church and assaulted him using stones, sticks and a metal bar. The attack left the victim with severe head injuries.
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A post-mortem examination established that Ogolla died from blunt force trauma to the head.
The plea bargain agreement, dated May 26, 2026, saw the original murder charge under Sections 203 and 204 of the Penal Code reduced to manslaughter under Sections 202 and 205 after the accused admitted responsibility for the killing.
In his sentencing, Justice Omido described the killing as a tragic act of violence that had devastating consequences for the victim’s family.
The judge noted that Ogolla had been the primary breadwinner and caregiver for his family, and that his death had deprived his children of parental support while exposing the family to significant economic hardship.
He further observed that the family continues to suffer emotional and psychological trauma following the violent loss of their loved one.
“Violence cannot become the accepted means of resolving family disagreements or allegations of wrongdoing. Where members of the public resort to collective violence rather than lawful dispute resolution mechanisms, the rule of law itself is threatened,” Justice Omido said.
The court also heard that following Ogolla’s death, the convicts’ father was killed by an angry mob in what the judge condemned as an unlawful act of mob justic.
The two were granted 14 days to lodge an appeal against the sentence.
