Lali to shed light on Keroche heiress’ death

A Milimani magistrate court on Thursday summoned Mr Omar Lali and six others to shed light on the circumstances that led to the death of Keroche Breweries heiress Tecra Muigai.

Senior Principal Magistrate Zainab Abdul said Lali is a person of interest, after being mentioned adversely by the 11 people who have testified so far. 

Mr Elisha Ongoya, the lawyer representing Ms Muigai’s family, said Mr Lali is a “compellable” witness and has a civic duty to testify.

Mr Ongoya added that the six other witnesses have information that is relevant to the circumstances that led to the death of the Keroche Breweries heiress on May 2, 2020.

Charms to win women

Mr Lali has not appeared in court and is not represented in the inquest, which began on Monday.

The court was told that the National Police Service dispatched a van to Lamu to get the six witnesses but they declined to board or travel to Nairobi.

The six are Mr Lali’s brothers Kasai, Ali Bakari and Abdul Akini, Mr Ahmed Ali Salim, Mr Mohammed Salim Muhanji and Mr Yahya Salim Mohamed.

Some of the witnesses were present when Ms Muigai reportedly fell in the couple’s rented house in Shella, Lamu county, on April 23, 2020.

Meanwhile, Ms Muigai’s elder brother James Karanja told the inquest that he was informed Mr Lali uses charms to win over women.

Surprise party

Mr Karanja said he was shocked when he first met Mr Lali in September 2019. 

He said their first encounter was in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania when his sister and his girlfriend Victoria Marsela, organised a surprise party.

Q: Why were you shocked?

A: I had known my sister very well and we were very close. I also knew her past relationships. This one was different.

Q: Why do you say so?

A: Apart from the age difference between her and Lali, their lifestyle was different from what we were used to.

Kept to himself

Mr Karanja said during the entire stay in Dar es Salaam, Mr Lali kept to himself and was never bothered to identify with them as Ms Muigai’s family.

And though they did not spend a lot of time together, Mr Karanja said, he noticed his sister was very protective of him.

“She had changed a lot and distanced herself whenever we were together. Lali also did all he could to keep her from us,” Mr Karanja said. 

He added that their second meeting was in Lamu county in November 2019, where he had visited Ms Muigai with his girlfriend to find out how she was doing.