Three serving Kenyan police officers have been implicated in the assassination of prominent mental Health expert Dr. Victoria Nthunya Mutiso, with detectives alleging one supplied the murder weapon, another fired the fatal shots, and a third coordinated the carefully planned operation.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on Friday identified Inspector Kenneth Kipkemboi Sang, the officer commanding Nderi Police Post under Kikuyu Police Station, as the alleged coordinator who linked the financiers to the execution team and provided the firearm used in the murder. He remains at large.
Police Constable Elijah Kibelion Kimoi, attached to Karinde Police Post, has been arrested after investigators identified him as the gunman who fatally shot Dr. Mutiso. Police Constable Bett Kiplangat Collins of Thogoto Police Post has been forensically placed at the scene but is also on the run.
Addressing the media, Director of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin described the officers’ alleged involvement as a grave betrayal of the uniform and public trust, vowing the Directorate would pursue all involved with the full force of the law.
The breakthrough followed an intensive forensic and intelligence-led investigation into the July 29 killing of the former director of the African Institute of Mental and Brain Health. Dr. Mutiso was gunned down while travelling in an Uber to her office in Nairobi’s Upper Hill district.
According to investigators, the Uber was intercepted after two Toyota Prado vehicles strategically blocked its path before a gunman fired several shots into the vehicle. The driver rushed her to Kenyatta National Hospital, but she succumbed to three gunshot wounds.
Detectives allege Daniel Mwangi Njoroge coordinated the operation, hiring the two Prado vehicles used in the ambush, facilitating the movement of the execution team, and personally driving one of the vehicles that boxed in the victim’s car. Vehicle tracking data placed both Prados, registration numbers KDE 400W and KDH 600A, at the crime scene.
Kelvin Ngugi Kinuthia is alleged to have ferried the gunman to the scene on a motorcycle. Forensic evidence places him at the murder scene, and the motorcycle used during the operation has been recovered.
Investigators later recovered a Mini Jericho pistol from the armoury at Nderi Police Post after inspecting the station’s firearms register. Ballistic examinations confirmed the weapon matched spent cartridges recovered at the scene and the bullet extracted from Dr. Mutiso’s body during the post-mortem, conclusively linking it to the murder.
The DCI said the investigation established the killing was motivated by a long-running land dispute over property in Mlolongo. Dr. Mutiso had lodged a caveat over the land, which had become the subject of a case before the Environment and Land Court in Machakos.
Evidence points to Rose Mbithe Mulwa, formerly married to Dr. Mutiso’s husband, Prof David Musyimi Ndetei, and her son Christopher Mulwa as the alleged financiers and organizers of the murder. Both are being held after investigators obtained court orders to detain them for 21 days pending completion of investigations.
The DCI also revealed Dr. Mutiso had survived an earlier assassination attempt on July 7 along Ngong Road when two men on a motorcycle allegedly pointed a firearm at her. She escaped unharmed and reported the incident to police.
Amin said detectives are still pursuing additional suspects and are examining possible links between those implicated in Dr. Mutiso’s murder and the killing of lawyer Kyalo Mbobu. He emphasized the Directorate would stop at nothing to ensure justice is fully served, regardless of status, uniform, or influence.