Kasarani, a Nairobi neighbourhood that once boasted a burgeoning middle-class residency, is now a cesspit of murders and suicides.
On the first floor of Kasarani Police Station that houses Sub-county Criminal Investigations Officer Jimmy Kimaro’s office, five benches and two small worn-out maroon chairs welcomes visitors to the waiting bay.
They are almost always full as people check in to report crimes or relatives missing, murdered or dead by suicide. Mr Kimaro, who took over from Mr Vincent Kipkorir last December, he admits that there is a big problem.
Took over
“Since January, we have had 40 cases of suicides, murders and unexplained deaths. It is a worrying trend,’’ Mr Kimaro told Nation in his office at the weekend.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) Homicide Unit from the Kiambu Road head office recently took over investigations following allegations that officers at Kasarani Police Station took bribes to cover up the death of 23-year-old interior designer Jeff Mwathi last month.
Mwathi died on February 22 at Redwood Apartments, where he had visited musician Lawrence Njuguna, popularly known as DJ Fatxo, for a business deal.
Homicide Unit head Martin Nyuguto told Nation on phone yesterday that investigations are ongoing but declined to divulge details.
The late Jeff Mwathi who mysteriously died on February 23 at DJ Fatxo’s Nairobi apartment. Lawmakers have expressed concerns over the quick burial of the 23-year-old interior designer even without a complete report from the DCI.
Officers at Kasarani Police Station and the Homicide Unit told Nation that seeds to cover up Mwathi’s murder were planted at the scene of crime, where first responders deliberately disregarded evidence pointing to foul play.
At Kasarani Police Station, Nation has learnt, two opposing camps emerged as the seeds germinated and grew in an official report. One side wanted investigations launched while the other wanted the case closed and Mwathi’s death ruled as suicide.
“If you keenly watched the original version of the CCTV footage and not the others that were doctored and shared online, the deceased was pushed out of a tiny window from the tenth floor. He fell face-down with his hands outstretched towards the ground,” a detective told Nation.
“Two things here, the deceased was intoxicated. Secondly, the people who did it [pushed him out of the window] had [no idea what to do after the murder]. It was not a suicide but what we don’t know for now is the motive,’’ a homicide detective told Nation in confidence.
Mr Kimaro denied claims that any his officers was bribed, maintaining that the investigations were overboard.
Book the body
In yet another case, gospel musician Dishon Mirugi, real name Paul Mathenge Wanderi, was arrested over the death of Nakuru-based pastor Elizabeth Wanjiru Githinj, whose body was found inside his house in Maziwa.
Ms Wanjiru 38, had allegedly travelled from Nakuru to Nairobi on March 18 to visit Mr Mirugi, who told police she later died by suicide inside his house. Strangely, Mr Mirugi shuttled from one police station to another — from Kiamumb to Kasarani and Kahawa West — seeking a permit to book the body at the Kenyatta University Funeral Home.
Gospel artiste Mirugi Dishon, real name Paul Mathenge Nderi, and Nakuru pastor Elizabeth Wanjiru Githigi.
At Jacaranda Maternity Hospital on Kamiti Road where Mr Mirugi had taken Ms Wanjiru “for first aid”, medics told Mr Mirugi, who owns Flying Eagle International Ministry Church in Juja, that she was already dead.
The general body condition showed that the deceased had strangulation marks around her neck. Police maintain that it was a suicide even after the post-mortem report could not authoritatively reveal whether someone was involved in her death.
The postmortem showed the cause of death as pressure on the neck but was inconclusive whether it was self-inflicted or assault. Toxicological samples have since been taken for more analysis, but nothing has come out of the probe.
Political mobiliser
On March 23, political mobiliser Joseph Kubende allegedly died by suicide after jumping from the fourth floor of a family friend’s house.
He was due to fly back to the US where he had relocated in search of greener pastures. His family suspects foul play but police in Kasarani say the incident happened in broad daylight and people saw him jump.
Similar controversy
“In fact, some witnesses told us that they tried persuading him to climb down but he refused,’’ Mr Kimaro told Nation.
A similar controversy surrounds the death of Brenda Kawira on February 21. She allegedly jumped to her death from the fourth floor of an apartment building at around11.30pm.
Kawira had in September 2021 graduated with a first-class honours degree in biochemistry from the University of Nairobi.
In September 2021, the late Brenda Kawira graduated with first-class honours from the University of Nairobi where she was pursuing a degree in medical biochemistry specialising to become a geneticist.
Her boyfriend told police that they had quarreled that night and she tossed herself to the ground from the balcony of their house in a fit of rage.
Scene-of-crime investigators from Kasarani Police Station ruled the death a suicide but Kawira’s mother Catherine Gakii and other members of her family insist she was killed inside the house and the body was thrown down.
They claim there were blood stains on the walls, which police ignored in their investigations. Kawira was set to travel to Australia in June to pursue her masters after securing a scholarship.
Fresh investigations
And barely two weeks ago on March 16, Blair Muthomi, who was an electrical engineering student at the Nairobi Technical Training Institute, died after he allegedly threw himself from the fifth floor of a residential building in Hunters area, Kasarani.
Muthomi’s father, Onesmus Mwiricia, has refused to believe that he died by suicide and wants fresh investigations conducted.
“Our hearts are very heavy and we will not settle until we know from the investigating agencies what exactly happened to our beloved son,” Mr Mwiricia said during Muthomi’s burial in Meru on March 18. BY DAILY NATION