'96 hours in hell' and missing Sh50 million, Mbobu's friend speaks

City businessman George Wainaina said the accusations of Kyalo Mbobu's murder have been the most traumatic experience in his life. [File, Standard] City businessman George Wainaina has been cleared of the list of suspects in the murder of lawyer Kyalo Mbobu. Speaking from his hospital bed on Tuesday, Wainaina said the accusations have been the most traumatic experience in his life. He recounted the past 96 hours when he was in custody as hell on earth. "On the day Mbobu was shot, I met him. The meeting lasted less than two minutes. I left my Karen home at 9am. I was in Milimani Law Courts by around 10am for a matter," he said. "At 12:30pm, I was in Westlands for lunch in a friend's office. I then called my nephew to meet me at Sagret (Hotel). My driver parked near the gate, and as I was waiting for my nephew to arrive when I saw my neighbour and friend Eric Muhia come out with wakili Mbobu." He said the two greeted each other, and the lawyer left after the cab he was waiting for arrived. "I then asked Muhia if he had organised medical insurance cover for our chama members. He went to make the phone call with the insurance agent and my nephew had arrived by then. I gave him some documents and cheques and he left. He never even met Mbobu. It is so unfair that he was also arrested over the matter," he said. Wainaina recalled that he was driven to his office in Gakambura, where he stayed briefly before going to his farm in Ndeiya. "I left the farm at 5:27pm because that's when I fueled and went home. It was at around 8:30pm that Muhia called me, saying the wakili we met in the afternoon had been killed," he said. Mbobu was assassinated last week on Tuesday evening. A postmortem revealed the lawyer was shot eight times at close range. On Thursday, Wainaina said, he left his home to go to court for a matter that ended by midday. "I told Mbugua my nephew to come meet in Karen so that we could do some business. When I got to Bogani Road, I found three Subarus and ten DCI officers surrounding my nephew's car. They told me they were arresting him and they allowed me to follow them to their headquarters. In their car was Muhia who had been arrested and when he told them I am Wainaina, they also arrested me." He says that the officers asked for his gun. In his compound, the police said they would also detain his Peugeot 308. "When they realised there was money in the car, they turned wild. It's like it was a serious crime to have cash." Together with Muhia and his nephew Mbugua, they were taken to the DCI office near Integrity Centre, where they were interrogated. "The homicide detectives were so polite and friendly. We finished writing statements at midnight, and they said they would hold us till Friday morning after our phones and guns come from testing." He was taken to the Kileleshwa Police Station, while Mbugua was detained at Kilimani and Muhia at the Capitol Police Post. Wainaina recalled his time alone in the cold cell. The next day, without his medication for blood pressure, he suffered a severe asthma attack and was transported in an ambulance to the Nairobi Hospital. "I do business internationally, and my name was everywhere online. I have grandchildren," he said. The father of four said he has been in business for years, revealing that he made his first million in August 1990. "I supplied the World Food Programme and was paid in dollars. It was a lot of money. I have always been in business since childhood." Wainaina said the Sh50 million in cash the police found was for business. "Together with my friends, we run a parallel banking system that finances businesspeople. We can raise even Sh2 billion if needed. So the money police seized was being held in trust for someone else." Police are yet to return the money, gun and phones. "I think I have to personally go and pick them."

'96 hours in hell' and missing Sh50 million, Mbobu's friend speaks

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'96 hours in hell' and missing Sh50 million, Mbobu's friend speaks

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