The dead stay dumb:How witnesses to Dr Ouko's death case mysteriously died

 Insert- Philip Kilonzo (left)and Hezekiah Oyugi were witnesses

Dr Robert Ouko’s death was followed by more mysterious deaths of at least 15 potential key witnesses and former associates, who either testified, or held influential positions at the time of the murder in February 1990.

Many of them were about to give evidence at the Ouko Commission of Inquiry. Eleven died within a year. Others went missing and their whereabouts remain unknown 25 years later.

1. Hezekiah Oyugi: Former PS, Internal Security

He had been named as a principal suspect by Superitendent John Troon of the New Scotland Yard. Four days before he was to testify at the Ouko Inquiry. Oyugi was arrested but later released without any charges. Six months after his release, he was admitted to the Nairobi Hospital suffering from an illness of the nervous system. He died on August 8, 1992.

2. Philip Kilonzo: Retired Commissioner of Police

 Kilonzo was at the centre of the investigation into Ouko’s murder as the Police Commissioner at the time. On July 29, 1997, he collapsed and died at his Ndalas pub in Matuu after ordering his favourite. He allegedly received a call and walked out. He returned, took a sip from his glass and exclaimed; “This beer tastes different. What have you done to it?” He died minutes later.

3. Justice Fidahussein Abdullah: High Court Judge

Abdullah died on November 18, 1992 before he could deliver a ruling in the case in which former Nakuru DC Jonah Anguka was charged with the murder of Dr Robert Ouko.

4. Mohamed Aslam: Chairman, Pan African Group of Companies

Aslam is alleged to have been an intermediary in channeling kickbacks from international investors. He was about to testify over claims of corruption as a possible motive for Ouko’s murder when he was admitted to the Nairobi Hospital where he died two days later in November 1991.

5. Nehemiah Shikuku Obati: Senior Assistant Commissioner of Police, CID

Obati led the team that arrested and interrogated suspects among them Internal Security PS, Hezekiah Oyugi, and Nakuru DC Jonah Anguka. He died of liver failure in 1992

6. Joseph Mbogo: Superintendent of police and lead investigator

He participated in the Ouko investigation before joining the Ouko Commission of Inquiry. He died mysteriously and was buried quietly in 1993.

7. Oidho Agalo: Farmhand at Ouko’s Koru home

Agalo was the son of Zablon Agalo Obonyo, the Administration Police officer attached to Ouko’s Koru home. He was living with his father at the farm and therefore was an important witness. He died at Nyalenda estate in Kisumu in 1991 after a short illness.

8. Otieno Gor: Saw Ouko last

Gor, who was allegedly in the compound of Ouko’s Koru home, had been listed to testify before the commission. He died under unclear circumstances.

9. Martin Ochanda: Intelligence officer

Ochanda was attached to the Kisumu Special Branch office and was a close friend of Ouko. In December 1991, he fell sick and was admitted to the Armed Forces Hospital in Nairobi where he died a few days later.

10. Pius Omollo Ngwaye: Anguka’s personal bodyguard

Soon after Anguka’s arrest, Omollo was also detained by police. Anguka claims in his book, Absolute Power: Ouko Murder Mystery, that while being interrogated at the CID Headquarters, he met Omollo there. He described Omollo’s condition at the hands of detectives as pathetic. Omollo was released before being admitted to a hospital in Nakuru, where he died soon after in 1991. The cause of his death was never disclosed.

11. Joseph Otieno Yogo: Ouko’s driver-cum-security

He drove the minister from Nairobi to Kisumu on February 5, 1990, and later returned to the capital city to fetch Ouko’s wife Christabel on February 9. On February 12, Yogo chauffeured Christabel back to Nairobi, leaving the husband alone at their Koru home.He was a key witness at the Ouko Commission of Inquiry. In late 1992, he was admitted and died of a ‘short illness’ at the Mater Hospital in Nairobi.

12. James Eric Onyango: Ouko’s relative and confidant

He allegedly was among the last people Ouko talked to on telephone on the night before he disappeared. He also died but the cause of his death remains unknown.

13. Paul Shikuku: Herdsboy

Shikuku found Dr Ouko’s charred and mutilated remains at the foot of Got Alila. He was listed as a key prosecution witness. Deputy Public Prosecutor Bernard Chunga failed to present him as a witness claiming the police could not trace him. He is alleged to have disappeared in 1991 before he could testify.

- Hudson Gumbihi