Man sets himself on fire outside Supreme Court over court case

A man set himself on fire outside the Supreme Court in Nairobi over what he termed as delayed justice.

The victim, identified as James Kipira, according to documents found with him, sustained serious burns following the Tuesday morning incident.

He was rescued and rushed to the hospital by an ambulance from the Nairobi County government.

Witnesses said he arrived at the precincts in the morning and pretended to talk to security officials there before he embarked on his mission.

He had carried a bottle full of petrol.

Witnesses said he poured the petrol on his neck and reached out to a lighter he had in his pocket.

By then, security at the court had spotted him. He had carried a bundle of documents.

“He first lit the fire on his neck, but the fire failed to light. He then squatted and light the fire from his buttocks,” a witness said.

At that time, security smelled the petrol and rushed out to check what was happening, only to see him on fire.

And as the fire spread on his body, he tried to rescue himself. He removed his jacket and threw it a few meters away before also removing his shirt, which had caught fire.

He then stumbled and fell a few meters ahead outside the gate as security at the courts rushed out with a fire extinguisher to help him.

An ambulance arrived minutes later and carried him to hospital.

Documents found with him showed he was frustrated over a car sale agreement he had entered in Mombasa in 2023.

He had apparently bought a car in Mombasa and paid a deposit of Sh300,000 before trying to drive it to Nairobi.

The car was involved in an accident, which forced him to have it taken back to Mombasa at his own expense because it was not insured then.

The sellers had apparently agreed in writing that they would not be held responsible for any such accident because the salon car was not insured. He intended to use it for taxi businesses.

The sellers then asked him to pay the full amount of the car, which was Sh1.3 million, before they could repair it and hand it to him.

This prompted him to move to court and the case has been dragging there since then.

The man later told police and the medics who came to rescue him he was frustrated by the court bureaucracy and he had no hope of getting justice in the case.

Senior officers visited the scene as he was being taken away to the hospital.

The judiciary has yet to comment on the issue.

The judiciary is struggling to clear thousands of pending cases. Among others, they cite a lack of enough judicial officers, including judges for the mess, hence the delayed justice.