Kin seeks closure 17 years after journalist’s murder

The High Court is today set to rule on a compensation case filed by the family of a journalist killed in 2003.

Freelance journalist William Munuhe was murdered as he investigated the whereabouts of Rwandan fugitive Felicien Kabuga in the country. 

The family filed the case against the State on December 2, 2019 but the State Law office was yet to respond to the suit by yesterday as directed by Justice Joel Ngugi.

In the suit, the family is seeking compensation for Munuhe’s murder, and want the State compelled to compensate them.

They also want the government to declare Kabuga dead or alive.

“That the court directs a public inquest be conducted to establish the cause of death of Munuhe and solve the mystery,” read the court papers.

Conclude case

The family also wants a permanent injunction restraining the State from interfering with investigations into the case.

Through an affidavit by Josephat Muriithi, Munuhe’s brother, the family said State agencies have refused to set up a public inquest to establish the cause of death of Munuhe and conclude the case.

They claim the State is deliberately frustrating the investigation agencies in a move to protect Kabuga.

Munuhe was murdered on January 14, 2003 at his home in Karen, Nairobi. Police found his body covered with a blanket, with a bullet to his head.

He was allegedly murdered on the same day he arranged to set up Kabuga to be arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

His death has remained a mystery for the past 17 years. Munuhe was 27 years old when he was killed.

Kabuga, a wanted man by FBI, is accused of financing the 1994 Rwandan Genocide that led to the deaths of over 800,000 people. [Daniel Chege]