From left: Evans Chirchir, Jennifer Wambua, Mary Lilian Waithera and Chris Msando.
The August 31 death of Evans Chirchir, a treasury intern whose body was found in a morgue in Machakos, rekindles unresolved murders of government employees.
On Monday last week, the family claimed that Chirchir, who authorities say was knocked down by a motor vehicle whose registration details and the driver who was behind the wheels cannot be revealed due to legal issues.
At first, the family through lawyers Philip Keaton and Felix Langat claimed Chirchir had expressed fears for his life over a Sh286 million tender.
However, this was refuted by the National Treasury Principal Secretary Chris Kiptoo who said Chirchir never handled sensitive matters and that the accident happened when Chirchir was in a private function which is not linked to his official duties.
According to Kiptoo, the Officer Commanding Station (OCS) at the Kyumvi outpost in Machakos confirmed the arrest of the driver involved in the accident. He further revealed a post-mortem examination had been conducted to ascertain the cause of death.
"He was not involved in any sensitive or decision-making capacities within the department, and the incident that led to his death occurred during his private time, far from his work responsibilities," Kiptoo clarified.
The family has since gone silent on the matter and declined media interviews last Thursday when a postmortem examination on the body revealed he had head and limb injuries.
Family and police sources told the Nation that the 34-year-old was called by his friend identified as Bosco Omondi and that they were to head towards Machakos to enjoy a drink. Mr Omondi has never responded to our inquiries.
National Land Commission (NLC) official Jennifer Wambua
In March 2021, the body of Jennifer Wambua was found dumped in City Mortuary days after she was abducted and murdered.
Wambua who was the NLC deputy Communication director was a key witness in a Sh122.3 million case involving a politician and senior officials at the Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology charged with conspiring to defraud the government.
Wambua had in February 2021 testified as a state witness and she explained how the alleged fraud took place. She was supposed to be cross-examined by the defence on March 1, 2021 but she never appeared in court.
The court was informed that she had fallen sick and was admitted to MP Shah Hospital.
It later emerged that in the same week she went missing she survived a road accident after a lorry hit the car that she was driving. This happened in Kyumbi Area, Machakos County.
Police at the time commenced investigations into the matter and they also said that she had leg and shoulder injuries which suggested that the abductors tortured her.
Wambua had reportedly expressed fears and she even informed the court on the day she was testifying.
She produced a Sh5 million invoice number 0070 dated March 22, 2017, from a publisher to the ICT ministry.
Her body was found in a thicket in Ngong Area and the police ferried the body to the City mortuary.
She went missing on a Friday morning from her place of work and mystery surrounds how she left Upper Hill, Nairobi.
National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) Mary Gathenya
In February 2023, Ms Mary Gathenya was walking home when she suddenly collapsed along Kaunda Street in the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD)
At first, the police and people who witnessed how she collapsed concluded that she died of natural causes.
However, an autopsy was conducted and a bullet was found lodged in her lungs. Gathenya worked at the registry department at NHIF.
At the time police said that the bullet had been fired from an elevated angle which penetrated into the body and stopped in the lungs.
To date nobody has ever been arrested in connection to the murder.
At the time, Mr Adamson Bungei, who is the Nairobi Regional Police Commander, said the bullet head had been handed to ballistic experts for analysis.
“We do not know how and why the bullet was fired and by who. We have a team working on the case,” he said.
At the time of her death, she was walking alongside her colleagues who then called for an ambulance after she collapsed.
On that day she had walked from Upper Hill and was headed home when she was shot.
When the Nation team visited the scene a few minutes after the incident, blood stains were visible.
Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Chris Musando
Seven days before the August 8, 2017 elections, Chris Musando, the man who at the time was in charge of Kenya’s computerised voting system, was found dead.
Msando was an electoral commission Information Technology (IT) manager who went missing on a Friday.
Former IEBC chairperson Wafula Chebukati then told the media that the manner in which the body was found indicated that he was tortured then murdered.
"There was no doubt he was tortured and murdered," said Mr Chebukati.
The death attracted tension and at the time the presidential election was expected to be a close race between President Uhuru Kenyatta and Mr Raila Odinga.
Mr Msando’s body was found alongside that of Carol Ngumbu, 21, who was a student at the time. The bodies were found within the Kikuyu Area and taken to the City Mortuary.
IEBC Embakasi East officer Daniel Mbolu Musyoka
Daniel Mbolu Musyoka went missing on Thursday, August 11, 2022 in unclear circumstances only to be found dead. He was the IEBC officer in charge of Embakasi East.
The late IEBC official Daniel Mbolu Musyoka.
His body was found on August 15, 2022 at the Amboseli National Park in Kajiado South Sub-County. His sisters Ms Mary Mwikali and Ms Ann Mboya positively identified him.
To date, nobody has been arrested in relation to the murder.
When the Nation contacted Directorate of Criminal Investigations boss Mr Mohamed Amin on the status of investigations into the cases, he never responded.
