Nairobi News

Kenya hogged international headlines for the not so rosy reasons after foreigners visiting the country in 2022 met their death in unexplained circumstances.

Here are some of the cases.

Death of two Indians

In this incident, a furious President Dr William Ruto ordered investigations into the death of two Indians who were linked to his campaign team ahead of the August 2022 polls.

An excited Mr Zulfiqar Ahmad Khan jetted into the country in April 2022. He appeared to love the country and enjoy himself while at it, judging by how he consisted shared photos of himself at different locations on his social media pages.

Meanwhile, his friend Mr Zaid Sami Kidwai had arrived earlier with his wife Ms Ambreen Kidwai and when Khan joined them they decided to reside in a hotel located along the busy Mombasa Highway.

But then the trio went missing on July 25, 2022, amid suggestions they had been abducted outside a popular hotel along the Nairobi expressway. They have never been seen since.

Three months later, President Ruto ordered a crack police squad known as the Special Service Unit (SSU) disbanded. The order was reportedly in relation to the disappearances.

The Head of State said he made the decision after receiving an investigation report on the disappearance of the two Indian nationals and their taxi driver identified as Mr Nicodemus Mwania.

“I am the one who ordered that the Special Service Unit, which was conducting extrajudicial killings, be disbanded,” President Ruto said in Kericho.

First forward, on October 24, 2022, a damning affidavit was filed at the Kahawa Law Courts which detailed how the two Indians and their taxi driver were trailed, abducted, and killed inside Aberdare Forest by a four-man squad drawn from SSU.

Investigating officer Michael Kirui, in a sworn affidavit filed in court said the three were marked men and it was a matter of when, not if, they would be killed. The affidavit does not highlight the motive for the murders but sheds light on an alleged killer squad ready to pull the trigger and working closely with other rogue elements within the DCI.

Mr Peter Muthee Gachiku, Mr Francis Muendo Ndonye, Mr John Mwangi Kamau, and Mr Joseph Kamau Mbugua, were arraigned before Chief Magistrate Diana Mochache.

Death of Pakistan journalist Arshad Sharif

Kenya Police confessed to killing Mr Arshad Sharif, a popular Pakistani journalist at the junction of the Kwenia- Kamukuru feeder road and Nairobi- Magadi Road.

Currently, the Pakistani government and family of the deceased are demanding justice even as it already named people they believe are people of interest in the case.

To date, it has never been explained why Mr Sharif and Mr Khurram Ahmad who was driving the motor vehicle opted to use a longer route to Nairobi rather than use the shorter route that they were fond of using.

A police report released by Magadi Police Station on October 23, 2022, the day that the 50 year old was killed revealed details that led to what police described an incident of “mistaken identity.”

Mr Sharif, a famous Pakistan journalist, had arrived in Kenya from Dubai fearing for his life after he exposed a series of corruption cases in his home country.

As Sharif was having a good time at the popular joint that is also frequented by military officers who patronise the range shooting, police claim that a man they identified as Douglas Wainaina had reported to the Pangani Police Station in Nairobi that his vehicle had been stolen from where he had parked it.

Mr Wainaina supposedly told detectives attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) that he had parked his vehicle with his son inside, but when he went back to where he had left the car, he did not find it.

“The officers at Pangani Police Station then located the son at Olusuritia Anglican Church of Kenya (ACK) located within Kiserian. He was also located at Kiserian Dam estate and later Olepolos Hills. The DCI officers from Pangani Police Station alerted their colleagues at Magadi GSU Training school, who then barricaded the Magadi Road,” a report filed at Magadi Police Station reads.

National Transport and Safety Authority records show that the Toyota Landcruiser Sharif and his brother were using is registered to his brother. It was registered on December 24 last year.

However, the search for the vehicle registration number that was reportedly stolen had not yielded results by the time of going to press despite both searches being done at the same time.

When top officers in Kajiado County visited the scene of the journalist’s killing, it emerged that the GSU officers had barricaded the road using stones and were demanding that every vehicle stops for inspection.

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