Police in trouble over mysterious death of a man in Kangundo

The Independent Policing and Oversight Authority (Ipoa) is investigating the mysterious death of a man who had been arrested in Kangundo for controversial reasons.

Muli Nduva was picked up by police on Thursday evening, only for his body to be discovered at the City Mortuary the following day.

He was enjoying a drink with his cousin Nixon Mbaki and their friends at Kwa Kim Bar in Tala when officers arrived in a Land Cruiser and called him outside for a word. The squad was reportedly led by the Tala deputy OCS Timothy Mwangi.

“His (Nduva) nickname is Toto. When he followed the officer out of the bar, it was the last time I saw him alive. He’s well known in the area, even by the police,” said Mr Mbaki.

Ex-girlfriend

After about five minutes, he became concerned as Nduva had not returned to the bar, which was about be closed for the day due to the curfew. When he walked out, he saw the police Land Cruiser with four officers. But there was also somebody else he knew: Nduva’s ex-girlfriend.

“I asked the police where Nduva was and they said he had been released. They pointed at a man who was walking away in the dark and said it was him,” recalled Mr Mbaki.

“I chased after the man, only to realise it wasn’t him. When I went back to the officers, they threatened to arrest me,” he said.

Mr Mbaki rushed to Nduva’s home and informed his mother, Ms Margarete Katumbe. Since it was late and past curfew hours, Ms Katumbe opted to deal with the matter in the morning.

‘Ingested acid’

At 4.45am, Ms Katumbe was awoken by a knock on the door. On opening, the visitors identified themselves as police officers and said Nduva had ingested acid while in custody and had been rushed to hospital.

“They said he was at Kangundo Hospital. Since it was still dark, I waited for daybreak before going to check up on him at the hospital. On reaching the hospital, the contact person we had been given told us that Nduva had been transferred to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH),” said Ms Katumbe.

The family quickly marshalled resources and made the 70-kilometre journey to KNH. They searched all registers for patients who had been booked in the previous night, but there was no sign of Mr Nduva.

Unaware they had been misguided, the family went back to Tala Police Station to seek answers. They didn’t find any. From the station, they headed to Kangundo mortuary.

“I was told to see the OCPD, but no one wanted to talk to me,” said Ms Katumbe. They opted to visit the City Mortuary, where attendants said some bodies had been booked in the previous night.

No record

They found Nduva’s body with injuries on the arms and private parts. However, there was no record on who brought the body and at what time.

“I want to know who took my son to the hospital and how he ended up at the mortuary in Nairobi,” said Ms Katumbe at the City Mortuary yesterday, where the family was awaiting a postmortem.

“My son wasn’t sick. He was killed. The government should investigate the girl who was with the officers, because she’s the one who took them to Nduva at the bar,” she said.

The post-mortem did not take place Wednesday due to a technicality but it has been scheduled for this morning (Thursday). IPOA officers spent the day at Tala Police Station talking to officers who were on duty on Thursday last week.

Among those being investigated is the Deputy OCS and the three officers he was with when they arrested Nduva.

IPOA had not issued a statement or responded to our questions on the matter by the time of going to press, saying they were still establishing preliminary facts.

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