Transfer to Kitui left Maina in constant fear of being eliminated

By PAUL MUTUA and DANIEL PSIRMOI

Nairobi, Kenya; Slain Kitui CID boss Zebedeo Maina had hinted to colleagues at a former station that his life was in danger following the ‘success that marked his previous assignments’, The Standard can reveal.

Maina had expressed fear for his life months before he met his death in Kitui town last week, his colleagues in Bungoma County revealed.

He was transferred to Kitui two months ago.

In an interview with The Standard, Maina’s colleagues at his former Bungoma station, who requested anonymity, said he lived in constant fear of being eliminated by officers working in cahoots with criminals.

They said he was afraid of moving from Bungoma to any station near Nairobi where he believed he had made many enemies who he thought were keen to eliminate him.

“He felt very safe in Bungoma which was far away from Nairobi. When he received his letter of transfer to Kitui he was hesitant. He expressed fear this was a ploy to eliminate him like his other former colleagues in the dreaded Kwekwe squad. He even contemplated resigning instead of taking the Kitui assignment,” said a Bungoma police officer.

Another former colleague said Maina had earlier declined a transfer to Samburu on similar grounds.

“However, he could not decline the transfer to Kitui that was effected after Bungoma leaders called for a reshuffle of top police bosses, after cases of increased insecurity were reported in the region,” said the officer.

Kidnap suspect released

Maina is credited for having brought to an end the carjacking syndicate that operated on the Malaba-Bungoma highway, which had thrived before his arrival in Bungoma.

Meanwhile, police have cleared charges against a man injured in last Saturday’s incident in Kitui, in which Maina was shot dead.

Daniel Nguma Wanyamu, a 27-year-old mechanic in Kitui Youth Polytechnic, was a free man yesterday as he recuperated at the Kitui District Hospital where he is nursing gunshot wounds to his left thigh.

Head of investigations at CID headquarters Mohamed Amin confirmed Wanyamu had been exonerated of involvement in the kidnap of a five-and-half-year-old girl, which Maina and company were going to rescue the day he met his death.

This followed a grilling session at the hospital during which Wanyamu was questioned by CID officers.