Bodyguard attached to Meru County speaker shot dead, driver injured in ‘attack’

A bodyguard attached to Meru County Speaker Joseph Kaberia, was Sunday shot dead in a cold blood attack at Kamiti Corner, Nairobi.

Following the incident, the speaker’s official driver was arrested after preliminary findings showed he could be behind the shooting. Another theory indicates they may have been attacked at the scene.

The speaker was not at the scene at the time of the incident.

Police said Constable Samuel Munga was shot in the chest and later pronounced dead at the Ruaraka Neema Hospital in Kasarani area.

The driver identified as Andrew Nabea had a gunshot wound in the left leg. Nabea is a licensed gun holder. It is not clear if he shot himself in the leg. Their official car had a single bullet hole.

A witness, Sarah Karambu who is a sister to Nabea, told police she received a call from the driver at about 3 am who informed her he wanted to spend the night there.

As she was opening the gate, she heard gunshots from outside and dashed back to the house for her safety.

Neighbours called police to the scene. Police arrived there minutes later and found Munga writhing in pain with gunshot wounds in the chest. The driver was lying next to the lifeless body of Munga with a wound in the leg.

Nairobi Police boss Philip Ndolo said the two were rushed to the hospital where the bodyguard succumbed to injuries.

A further assessment of the scene established Munga’s pistol had 15 bullets indicating he did not fire or use the weapon.

Nabea’s gun had three bullets. He had fired 20 bullets from his pistol whose spent cartridges were recovered.

Police said they also recovered the driver’s civilian firearm certificate and four Ceska magazines.

“It seems he fired either out of rage or to defend himself,” said a police officer who visited the scene.

Their car was damaged by a single bullet on the right side.

Other neighbours said they heard an argument between the two outside the gate before gunshots rent the air.

It is not clear where they had been before they decided to drive to the scene.

The driver is now a suspect in the incident and police intend to carry further analysis on his gun to establish if it was the one used to kill Munga.

A team of detectives set up to investigate the incident said they also intend to establish where the two had been before they went to Kamiti Corner.

They will also interrogate the Speaker as part of the probe.

“It seems they disagreed. The catridges recovered from the scene suggest they were fired by the driver,” said an officer.

A postmortem is planned on the body to establish the cause of death. It will also show how many bullets were pumped into his body.