Uniformed killers on the loose?

By Amos Kareithi

The killers used a three-month-old baby as a bait then sent a 16-year-old schoolgirl to fetch a police gun that was used for the job.

However, they had underestimated the resilience of two boys who were watching their heinous actions from a distance.

Now the secret is out and the two Administration Police officers who killed 22-year-old Joseph Mburu Kariuki are on the run.

The two were on a debt collection mission when everything went awry, leaving a trail of blood, betrayal and grief.

The unfolding scenario is akin to a soap opera awash with intrigues of illicit love, conniving girls, money games and cover-up schemes.

When Mburu received the invitation, he marched into a room where his girlfriend was supposedly waiting for him.

With Christmas shopping in one hand, the promise of setting eyes on his three-month-old baby for the first time was irresistible.

Falling into a trap

But as Mburu entered the room in Thigio, Limuru, he was unaware that he was living on borrowed time.

Like a lamb destined to the slaughter slab, he had walked into a death trap.

His crime was walking out of his employer in Karen, Nairobi with Sh9,000. For this, Mburu had to die. But first, his pursuers wanted to teach him a lesson. On December 12, last year, Mburu unceremoniously resigned as a barman. Shortly after, the bar owner, Nicholas Njoroge, noticed his money was missing.

It was not until December 19 when Mburu’s disappearance was reported to Karen Police Station. His phone had been switched off.

He was finally sighted in his home area in Thigio, Limuru. This necessitated a plan to lure him.

The bar owner, instructed the wife to report to Thigio Chief for assistance.

Investigations by CCI show that Mburu was called by a woman with whom he had a son after dating her for some time. The woman, who is a sister to his former employer’s wife, was demanding to know whether he had abandoned his three-month-old son.

When he arrived at the woman’s place at about 6pm, things turned awry. Two Administration Police officers stormed the house.

John*, a 13-year-old boy who witnessed the drama recalls: "I was just walking home after watching a soccer match. Suddenly I saw two APs and two women heading to the house. I know all four."

Out of curiosity, John followed them from a distance.

"As soon as they entered the house, I heard a commotion and then screams. Mburu could be heard begging for mercy," the boy recounts.

After about 20 minutes, John says he saw Mburu being frogmarched through the shopping centre.

"One hand was in handcuff as the officer held the other end. The second officer dragged Mburu by holding his waistband. Occasionally they would rain blows on him," John recalls.

Mburu was then led to St Mary’s Secondary School Thigio where the Administration Police officers lived.

Another boy, Njinu*, recalls seeing Mburu being frogmarched while the women followed.

"I know Mburu well because he is my cousin. I followed the APs and the two women, all sisters of Mburu’s girlfriend, to the patrol base," Njinu reveals.

According to Njinu, the policemen continued battering the suspect at the station.

"John and I were horrified when Mburu’s hands were handcuffed and one of the APs threatened to kill him," Njinu says.

By this time, Mburu, whose clothes were bloody, was not saying much. He kept pleading with the APs to set him free.

The two boys watched as one of the officers directed the younger of the sisters, a secondary school student, to fetch his gun from his house.

Unseen witnesses

"She went and came clutching the gun and handed it over to the enraged officer. I saw him level the gun to Mburu’s back. Then I fled," John says.

Njinu hid by the fence from where he espied the killer cop pull the trigger.

"I heard a loud explosion. Then I saw Mburu hurled up and then landed on his back, his eyes staring at the sky. Both of his hands were still in handcuffs. He screamed loudly as he writhed on the grass. His entire body was bloody," Njinu explains looking shaken.

It was at this point that the boy fled towards Thigio Primary School where they met Peter Karanja, Mburu’s uncle. The 62-year-old, who is the watchman at the school, told CCI how he rushed to the base and found Mburu writhing in pain.

"Mama, nimandatha na ndiu kiria mandathira. (Uncle, they have shot me but I do not know the reason)" Karanja recalls Mburu lamenting.

An enraged Karanja demanded to know from the police officers why they had shot his nephew.

He recalls one of the officers poking him with the gun, but at that time he was too angry too be scared.

Fearing more bloodshed, a villager, Hannah Mugure, nudged Karanja away from the scene.

"I Left Mburu lying on a pool of blood. At the time I did not know his condition was serious," Karanja says.

An officer who had been drawn to the scene by the explosive gunshot was told that Mburu had tried to attack the police officers with a panga in a bid to flee.

"The chief assigned two police officers to arrest Mburu in the house he was hiding. At first, I am told he resisted but was finally taken to the patrol base," the bar owner says of the incident.

"My wife called me 20 minutes after Mburu had been arrested and told me that he had been shot for trying to flee. Later I was informed that he had died," he adds, insisting that Mburu took off with Sh12,000 on December 12, last year.

Muzzling people’s voice

Karanja says he did not owe Mburu any money arguing that the deceased had a debt of Sh9,000 before he took off.

Three days after he was killed, Thigio Location chief, Wallace Mbugua, banned all public gatherings effectively stopping the grieving relatives from holding evening prayers or meetings.

"To all Thigio residents. Under the powers conferred upon me by cap 128 Laws of Kenya, I do hereby suspend all public meetings of any kind with immediate effect. This has been provoked by the current state of affairs in Thigio," reads the notice.

The notice, copied to Kiambu West DC, Ndeiya District Officer, OCS Tigoni as well as Resident Magistrate Limuru, warned that anybody found organising a gathering or meeting was ‘guilty of an offence.’

When CCI called the Chief, he retorted that he was not responsible for the shooting.

"I am just a mere chief. I am not a commander of the AP. Go and ask the District Officer. I did not bar the mourners from grieving," Mbugua added.

Kiambu West, DC, Esther Maina, said she was aware of the shooting but declined to give more information advising us to call later after getting facts. But later our calls went unanswered.

Hopes of relatives that the killers would be brought to book have been dashed by the transfer of the two APs whom we cannot name for legal reasons.

Kiambu West OCPD Samuel Mukindia told CCI that no suspects were likely to be arrested in connection with Mburu’s death as it was being treated as ‘a sudden death’.

"His boss reported that he had run away with Sh13,000. When the youth was spotted in Thigio, the complainants showed the OB number and some APs went to the house," the OCPD explained further contradicting the amount alleged to have been stolen by Mburu.

Mukindia said Mburu resisted arrest and instead attacked the law enforcers with a knife and had to be subdued by being shot as he attempted to evade arrest.

When we informed the OCPD that Mburu had been shot at the patrol base and not in the house where he was allegedly hiding, he appeared shocked, but insisted he was giving what the records showed.

Neighbours at the house where Mburu was arrested said they had not witnessed any shooting. The house where the AP fetched Mburu has been deserted after its occupants migrated.

"As you can see, there are no bloodspots here. Nothing, not even a spent cartridge has been recovered from here. Mburu was killed elsewhere. The police led him out of the house in handcuffs," a neighbour who declined to be named told CCI.

"We have not arrested anybody. We have opened an inquest," the OCPD said. Although the bar owner had recorded statements with the police, no investigator has contacted any of the witnesses CCI talked to and the family is worried that Mburu’s killers may go scot-free.

NB:* The minors’ names have been changed to protect their identity for security reasons.