27-year-old Muslim cleric, teacher shot dead at Likoni

A 27-year-old Muslim cleric and teacher was on Monday shot and killed at Likoni slums sparking calls for justice.

This is the second murder of a religious leader in Mombasa this year coming just two weeks after a Christian Pastor was shot dead as he entered a church.

In both cases, the assailants are not known and police have been accused of not conducting investigations.

There was a tense moment when relatives and friends of the deceased arrived at the Coast Provincial General Hospital mortuary yesterday to collect the body for burial.

The body had been at the mortuary since Monday and yesterday because police had refused to grant them permission for burial until a post-mortem examination is carried out.

Relatives say Juma Ali Mwamdigoe was shot at a construction site at Kona Mbaya area of Likoni.

They said he was working with a group of other men when five men, in civilian clothes, drove in, pumped him with bullets in broad daylight and then drove off.

Law abiding

It was not clear whether the killers asked any questions but reports show they took nothing from the site and appeared interested in no one else.

Police in Mombasa confirmed the murder but discounted reports that the deceased was an Imam.

"That is news to us. We cannot authoritatively confirm whether he was an Imam. What we know is that the slain man was in a group of five others and the killers went for him," County Deputy Police Commander, Severino Kubai said.

He said police have launched investigations into the killings.

Details of Juma's life were also scanty but relatives described him as a law abiding man.

The deceased's uncle, Ali Bendo, said Mwamdigoe went to school upto class eight at Zigira Primary School in Kinondo location, Kwale county.

"He did not proceed to secondary school but instead enrolled for Islamic studies at a local Madrassa and moved to stay in Diani before relocating to Mombasa," he said.

Bendo said the deceased was married with two children and had worked as an imam at Madrassa Ul Tawhid in Likoni where he also taught for four years.