A Baringo County staff member earlier this week narrated to a Kabarnet court how a former Health Chief Officer (CO) threatened to kill her for allegedly withholding a letter.
Salome Chelimo, a director of Administration and Planning in the Health Department, told the packed and hushed court how she received threatening phone calls from her boss, Dr. Gideon Toromo, who said that he was going to kill her within an hour.
“Dr. Toromo called me and inquired why I had withheld a letter he had written. Without provocation, he started calling me names, saying ‘you are silly, stupid.’ I tried explaining myself but he continued with the outbursts,” she said.
At the time, Salome said she was in Naivasha attending a meeting when she received a phone call from the accused, who has since been transferred to the Ministry of Health headquarters, accusing her of hiding the letter he had written, a letter meant to transfer her alleged boyfriend.
“I later spoke to my colleagues, Health CEC Mary Panga and Health Chief Officer David Cherop who promised to inform the governor what had transpired,” Salome said.
The woman was testifying in a case in which Dr Toromo was charged with sending her a threatening message through her husband’s phone, Wesley Tomno.
“Tell your wife, I either die or she dies. I have been called names, this time round somebody must go six feet, mbegu mbaya itatolewa,” read the message Dr. Toromo allegedly sent to Salome’s husband.
Further, the official also faced a second count where he is accused that on the same day at around 11.50 am, he threatened Salome by texting the County Commissioner, Henry Wafula, with the words, “I beseech you in the name of the Almighty God to arrest for me these two ‘Arrors’ Joel Chongwo (a health officer) and Salome, otherwise my trained hit squad boys will kill them before Friday.”
The former chief officer denied committing the offenses before Senior Principal Magistrate Paul Biwot, claiming that he is being accused wrongly.
After the Naivasha meeting that was held on November 9 last year at around 7 pm while taking a cup of tea, Salome told the court that Dr. Toromo called and accused her of not picking his calls.
“I told him I was in a meeting but he said he was going to finish my boyfriend in less than one hour,” said Salome.
It was then, she told the court, the former official called her husband and repeated his threat to kill her.
“I was really scared to go to my house and I became traumatized for a period of three weeks thinking he might come for me in my house and kill me,” she said.
Still shaken, Salome told the magistrate that she informed the Health minister Panga, County Secretary Francis Komen and Deputy Governor Jacob Chepkwony, who told her to report the incident to the police.
Immediately after reporting the matter to the Directorate of Criminal Investigation officers, the complainant said the accused called, insulting her.
“On November 9, last year, my wife called me after Toromo threatened to kill her. She was at our neighbour’s place, so I went there. I tried to ask her to come home but she was so scared,” said Tomno.
Tomno said that Dr. Toromo asked him to apologise to his wife on his behalf after he inquired what was happening between the two.
“Later on, Toromo texted me saying he has the power to heal and kill like the doctors and has the power to teach and cheat like teachers then said my wife will never work in Baringo,” Tomno said.
On cross-examination by the defense lawyer, Solomon Chepkilot, each of the two witnesses said that they had no recordings of the calls and the text messages.
Dr Toromo had been granted a bond of Sh100,000 with one surety of the same amount or a cash bail of Sh30,000.
The magistrate scheduled the next hearing on March 2 when two other witnesses are expected to testify.
The doctor, who had been embroiled in a tussle with the county government after being transferred to the national government had earlier faced a similar offense of threatening and assaulting a payroll manager.
Then he was charged with two counts of threatening to kill and assault causing actual bodily harm.
Chepkilot, who also represented the accused in the first case before Resident Magistrate Viennah Amboko, had prayed the court to grant his client reasonable bond terms stating that he was working with the county government and that he was not a flight risk.
The lawyer also disclosed that the accused suffers from a pre-existing medical condition and was still under medication and close supervision of a senior physician in Nakuru.
