NIS man accused of shooting friend dead detained for 20 days

Peter Kiplangat Chuma at the Makadara Law Courts where Principal Magistrate Renee Kitangwa allowed his detention for 20 days to allow police to investigate the killing of Joel Austin Macharia Maina on Wednesday, June 18 night. [Fred Kagonye, Standard]

A spy who allegedly shot dead his friend at Nairobi’s Thome Estate will now be detained for 20 days to allow police to investigate the incident.

Peter Kiplangat Chuma, who works for the National Intelligence Service (NIS), was before Makadara Principal Magistrate Renee Kitangwa for the miscellaneous application.

He allegedly shot Joel Austin Macharia Maina inside his car on June 18, 2025, at around midnight outside a liquor store in Thome.

According to the investigating officer, Hillary Mutai, the two men purchased liquor from a liquor store near the petrol station and entered Chuma’s car, KDJ 346A, at the parking lot.

“That the respondent is a licensed firearm holder and was armed with a jaw-pistol serial no. 16-023639 loaded with 15 rounds of 9mm caliber,” said Mutai in his affidavit.

He said that the incident where the 24-year-old was killed was captured by CCTV cameras mounted at the petrol station.

“That preliminary investigations have established that the respondent and the deceased are known to each other and had an argument that resulted in the shooting of the deceased.”

Maina was shot inside the vehicle on the driver’s seat, which he occupied while Chuma occupied the passenger’s seat.

The investigator said that Chuma was restricted by guards at the station and was later arrested by police officers from the Kasarani Police Station.

During the arrest, police recovered the murder weapon inside the vehicle, and thereafter, Maina’s body was moved to the Nairobi Funeral Home, where it is set to undergo a post-mortem.

“The deceased sustained a gunshot injury that exited through the head.”

Police Constable Mutai, in his affidavit, said that he needs time to trace and take testimony from witnesses, have the weapon undergo a ballistic examination and trace and retrieve the firearms movement register from the NIS.

He added that he required a court order to retrieve CCTV footage from the petrol station and the liquor store.

The family lawyer and Law Society of Kenya representative Abner Mango supported the application to detain Chuma, saying that there is a likelihood that he can interfere with investigations.

Stanley Kang’ahi, who represented Chuma, asked PM Kitangwa to detain his client for a lesser period that the 20 PC Tanui had asked for.

He added that the claim by the investigating officer that his client has no known address was not sufficient to deny him bond.

The case will be mentioned on July 10.