Family seeks justice for lynched kin

By Cyrus Ombati

A family in Nairobi’s Kayole estate is puzzled by a bizarre incident after three relatives were lynched by guards in a mistaken identity.

The three — Mathew Musembi, Joseph Mutolo and Fidelis Kimongo — who are cousins, were lynched by guards after a quarrel with a bar maid over money they had handed her to offset a bill.

Joseph Mutolo, one of the victims.

Mathew was a second year student at Methodist University while Mutolo worked at Kenya Airways as an engineer and Kimongo was an agent for houses in Saika estate.

Mathew’s father, Mr Julius Musembi, says the three had gone out for a drink at the pub on January 28 when the fate fell them.

Witnesses claim the row made revellers mistake them for thugs and alerted the guards, who in turn attacked them with machetes outside the bar. Their bodies were dumped at the City Mortuary that night.

"This is a bar they have been drinking for years. They are known here. We are told they differed with barmaids who later alerted the guards outside that the men were thugs," claims Musembi.

Musembi and other family members were until on Thursday making arrangements to bury the trio in Loitoktok.

Witnesses said they had paid Sh1,000 to offset bills and when Kimongo demanded change from the maid they had handed the money, she allegedly told him off prompting the confrontation.

The three are said to have died on the spot. Their bodies were discovered at the mortuary days later after officers at Kayole Police Station referred a relative there.

Musembi claims police have not been co-operative in pursuing the case. No arrest has been made. But Kayole OCPD Moses Lubisia says they are still investigating the incident. He says the family and other witnesses have recorded statements.