By James Mwangi

NAIROBI, KENYA: When a city land dealer learnt that there were some prospective buyers keen on purchasing his land, it was a dream come true for Lawrence Githinji Magondu.

The deal was fronted by two buyers who promised to buy his plot in Kitengela.  Fourteen years later, details of Magondu’s final moments still send chills down the spines of many because he met his death in a brutal way.

The drama started in January 2000 when Magondu received two people who said they wanted to buy his land. On the fateful day, Magondu received a call from the said land buyers, requesting that they meet to finalise the transaction.

The caller identified himself as Wilson Mwangi.

The businessman, accompanied by his driver, King’ori, drove to the place and were joined by the said buyers, who were five in a car. The group included Mwangi, his sister Anna and three men who were introduced as workers.

Mwangi told Magondu that the men were there to fence the land as soon as the deal was sealed. They carried barbed wire, iron sheets and a panga.

After they inspected the land,  they all left in two cars and headed towards Maasai Ostrich Farm. Magondu rode together with Mwangi and the woman while King’ori ferried the three men said to be workers.

Magondu and Mwangi went into a hotel where they talked and then came out a few minutes later and the group embarked on the journey to the land location.

Magondu gave King’ori Sh1,000 and instructed him to go order for nyama choma (roast meat) at a local butchery. King’ori did as instructed but he learnt that one of his three passengers had shifted to the other car carrying his employer. When he enquired what was happening, the two men ordered him to take them to the butchery.

LONG PLANNED

After a few minutes at the butchery, the other car zoomed past and stopped a distance away. The man who had left the car King’ori was driving came back and asked him to follow Mwangi’s car saying that was an instruction from Magondu.

He followed behind the speeding car but as they neared Portland Village, he noticed that Magondu was not in the other car. Upon inquiry, he was told he was sleeping in the back seat but after close scrutiny he established otherwise.

When he became more concerned, the men ordered him to shut up. Next to Nairobi National Park, King’ori was pulled out, clobbered and left for dead.

It seemed the mission was long planned but the killers blundered. King’ori was rescued by a passerby and the incident reported at Athi River Police Station.

King’ori told the court that his assaulters discussed how they would hit him on the same point they did to the slain Magondu. On the same evening, Magondu’s body was discovered at Kitengela, his hands tied with sisal rope. He had deep wounds to the forehead.

A postmortem  examination on February 8, 2000 by then government pathologist Dr Alex Olumbe concluded that the head injuries caused by a blunt object. Within a week, police had apprehended several people in connection with the murder.

Twelve people were arraigned in court. They were former Lands Commissioner Wilson Gachanja, his wife  Elizabeth Gitiri, her brother and sister, Mwangi and seven others. Gitiri had on several occasions during the period close to the date Magondu was killed, sent a lot of money to his sister Rose Njoki, who was said to be among the killers.

In March 2003, Justice Msagha Mbogholi found eight accused guilty and sentenced them to death. Gachanja and three others were acquitted. After an appeal, Gitiri’s conviction was quashed but the court upheld the sentence of the other seven.

By the time she was released, Gitiri had spent nine years inside jail but left behind her sister and brother cooling their heels in prison.