A Moi University student has been jailed eight years for killing a schoolmate during a fight over a woman.
Dickson Siengo stabbed Stephen Mututho eight times and will be jailed for a year for each time, chief magistrate Charles Obulutsa said in a ruling on Monday.
The magistrate added the student was found guilty of manslaughter.
The 20 year-old hospitality student committed the offence on March 21 last year at Pioneer Hostel. The two had quarreled over a woman identified as Faith Bwire.
Siengo had applied for a non-custodial sentence to be able to complete his education and reform but the court rejected the plea.
“The unfortunate part is that Mututho is gone. For you it’s possible that you will serve the sentence and resume your normal life,” said Obulutsa.
He added the matter of students dying at learning institutions has become of grave concern yet love has nothing to do with studying.
“You are taking a hospitality course that trains you to be hospitable to people who are not friendly and to control anger. It’s unfortunate that Stephen is gone and that whatever sentence this court gives will not bring him back.”
The magistrate further noted Siengo has not tried to contact Mututho’s family and that the serious offence requires a deterrent sentence.
“As much as we may be sympathetic to your circumstances, the offence is serious. It’s noted that you are a first offender. The deceased passed away in a very organised manner. Other students wanted to kill you…were it not for the quick action of police you would also be dead.”
Siengo pleaded further saying he is young but Obulutsa said a more severe punishment would have been life imprisonment.
“The deceased was stabled eight times using a kitchen knife from the room of your girlfriend. For each stab, the court is giving you one year.”
After the ruling, the student engaged the magistrate in a discussion about his fate following the sentence.
He asked about the time he had already spent in custody and whether it would reduce the sentence by a year but Obulutsa said this had already been considered.
Siengo also raised the matter of his future and the option of a fine but the magistrate said the law does not permit that as it would amount to putting a price on life.
“Can you organise for me to complete my education in prison?” the student further asked.
The magistrate replied: “Yes, that is possible…the prison authorities will organise that. There are people who have learned and graduated from prison.”
