Justine Nguma Kitonyo, a former teacher at Mnagoni Primary School in Ganze, Kilifi County, counts himself lucky. He has escaped death twice in a span of six years.
In 2010, he escaped a lynch mob that was baying for his blood after he was allegedly found having sex with a Standard Seven pupil, Agnes Karembo Kazungu, in her mother’s kitchen.
Six years later, he dodged the gallows after he successfully appealed a death sentence over the brutal murder of Kerembo, whose lifeless body was found in a bush one chilly morning of August 2010.
Karembo was 16 years old and a Standard Seven pupil at Mnagoni Primary School, while Kitonyo was a teacher in the same institution, having been employed in the school in 2007.
Kitonyo says that despite his acquittal, he still shoulders the burden of stigma and claims that it pains him to know that “the killer is still out there.”
Three Court of Appeal judges sitting in Malindi agreed with his defence and acquitted him.
“The case against the appellant was built around suspicion and not really circumstantial evidence. Mere suspicion cannot be a basis for conviction in a criminal case,” the Court of Appeal judges ruled when dismissing his earlier conviction.
The brutal murder, alleged illicit relationship and Kitonyo’s dismissal by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC) remain a mystery.
It all began on the sunny afternoon of April 19, 2010, when Kitonyo was allegedly caught having sex with Karembo in her mother’s kitchen, according to court documents.
The primary school teacher was waylaid and frog-marched in the village by irate villagers, but he was able to escape.
“Later that day, I was arrested and booked at Bamba Police Station with the offence of defilement. I was however released for lack of evidence,” narrated Kitonyo.
Days after the incident, the District Education Officer, Charles Ondieki Nyakundi, initiated disciplinary proceedings against Kitonyo, resulting in his interdiction on July 3, 2010.
According to a Standard Six class teacher, Shadrack Ruiba, Karembo at one time tried to intervene to have Kitonyo reinstated.
“Karembo wanted me to prevail upon the school headteacher, Nicholas Fondo, to rescind Kitonyo’s interdiction, but the request was turned down,” said Ruiba.
The interdiction was just the beginning of his six-year tribulation.
The alleged affair between Kitonyo and Karembo continued even after schools closed for the 2010 August holidays, according to court records as recounted by her (Karembo’s) friend.
Jane (not her real name) told the court that in August 2010, during the school holidays, she travelled with the deceased to visit her (Karembo’s) sister at a place called Dera in Mombasa.
“When we arrived, Kitonyo visited us in the evening and took us to a residence in Nyali,” said Jane.
She said that Karembo spent that night with Kitonyo while she (Jane) slept with a man called Samuel, also in Nyali.
But Kitonyo denies the allegations.
“I did not have any intimate relationship with the deceased. I received an interdiction letter on May 5, 2010 indicating that I had breached TSC Act Cap 212, section 7 (3b),” said Kitonyo.
The following morning, according to Jane, Karembo returned to her sister and collected her belongings and left.
Jane also boarded a matatu at Mwembe Tayari and headed to Mariakani to visit her sister. That was the last time she saw Karembo.
On August 9, 2010, Karembo’s lifeless body was found in a bush in Matsangoni area, her neck tied with a white cloth and blood oozing from her month. Her lower part was soiled with stool and mud.
A post-mortem report by Dr Ngali Mbuuku indicated that the pouting mouth and bitten tongue between the teeth suggested suffocation or strangulation.
Because Kitonyo was the last person allegedly seen with Karembo, he was the prime suspect of the murder and arrested at Bamba Trading Centre where he had rented a house.
The father of two was arrested and taken to Kilifi Police Station where he was informed that he was to be charged with murder, contrary to Section 204 of the Penal Code.
“I felt like the world crashed on me,” said Kitonyo, who is still struggling to be admitted back by TSC.
On November 11, 2016, a Court of Appeal in Malindi ruled that the trial court and prosecution erred by not investigating or considering the accused’s alibi or story.
