Chris Msando: Family awaits justice two years after murder

With the chain of unanswered questions surrounding his death and investigations that seem to have hit a brick wall, the family feels it has been denied justice.

Mrs Aloo says the long search for the elusive justice has made her health to deteriorate, with her son who took care of her medication now gone.
BED-RIDDEN
“I barely get out of this bed. My life has greatly changed – changed for the worst. For two years, several questions still linger in my mind – who could have killed my beloved last born son and why?” she says.

Today (July 28, 2019), marks the second anniversary since Mr Msando was found murdered.

His body was found in a thicket in Kikuyu, Kiambu County alongside that of a woman, 21-year-old Carol Ngumbu. The killers are still at large.

For the family though, the agony of losing a dependable member, coupled with the search for elusive justice, has been exhausting. Yet their love for him has emboldened them.

NO ARREST

Mrs Aloo wonders why two years down the line, no suspect has been charged with the murder of her son.

“I have been waiting for that time when I will be called to court for the hearing of my son’s murder case. I just want to see the killers eye to eye so that I can hear the reasons why they killed him. If he stole something, let them say it. If they win the case against my son, let it be. I won’t mind so long as the legal process is exhausted,” a distraught Mrs Aloo told Nation.

She went on, “I have been hearing over the radio about suspects in other murder cases arrested and arraigned. But why is it that those who killed my son have not been apprehended? What does the government know that we don’t know?”

She says the pain of losing her son is still unbearable for her.

KNOW KILLERS

“We know the court case won’t bring Chris back to life but we are interested in knowing his killers so that they tell us why they murdered him,” she said.

“As I tune my radio, I hear some leaders speak about alleged plans to assassinate a senior politician. To them, that threat is more serious than even trying to unravel the mystery surrounding the killing of an election expert in the country. This is so unfair.”

Mr Msando’s elder brother – Peter Msando – told the Nation that this time round, the anniversary celebrations will be delayed a bit due to family engagements.

ANNIVERSARY

“This time round we plan to celebrate his second anniversary around mid-August, probably on August 17, 2019,” he said.

Mrs Aloo, recalled how her son called earlier on the day he disappeared, never to return.

“He called me and promised to come visit me at the Mater Hospital in Nairobi where I had been admitted,” she said.

Still overwhelmed by the pain of losing her son, she says they will not give up in their calls for justice.

“It is unfortunate that despite the willingness of some foreign nations to help in the investigations, our government said it has the machinery for the same but no tangible information has been given yet,” she said.

INDIA TRIP

She said that her slain son had planned to airlift her to India for specialised treatment but his murder changed all that, leading to her deteriorating health condition.

“He had helped me get a passport which I was to use for travelling abroad for treatment. This never took place as the cruel hand of death took him away from our family,” she recalls.

She says, she suffers from arthritis as well as hypertension and has also been diagnosed with other ailments.

TWO YEARS

“Seconds have turned into minutes and minutes to hours, days to months and now it is two years, yet no tangible report over Chris’s death has come out but we are saying we won’t tire to remind the government and authorities concerned about our quest for justice,” she added.

In September 2017, the High Court discharged an accountant who was under investigations over Mr Msando’s death with no charges being preferred against him.

An autopsy report conducted on Mr Msando’s body had revealed that he was severely tortured and strangled to death.