Omar Lali set to testify last in Tecra inquest

The main suspect in the mysterious death of Keroche Breweries Ltd heiress Tecra Wangari Muigai will have the last word at the witness box in the ongoing inquest at the Milimani law courts.

Senior principal magistrate Zainab Abdul said Mr Omar Lali will be the last person to give his testimony over the incident that occurred in Lamu on May 2 last year.

“You will sit in court to hear the evidence tendered in this inquest before you can take the dock to respond to all the allegations made against you,” Ms Abdul said on Wednesday.

The court session was briefly interrupted when a guard employed by the Lamu county government, Mr Ali Bakari Mohamed, wailed as he recounted how he rushed Tecra to hospital after she allegedly fell from the balcony of a holiday home.

“I am a father of four daughters and I can feel how Tecra’s parents felt. I wouldn’t want such a misfortune to fall on any other parent. She was jovial, lovely, welcoming and outgoing,” said Mr Mohamed amid sobs.

Prof Elisha Ongoya, the lawyer representing Ms Muigai’s family, urged the witness to calm down as senior counsel James Orengo and Mr Lali’s advocate, Abubakar Yussuf, watched quietly.

Mr Mohamed, who is Mr Lali’s brother-in-law, told the magistrate that he went to Jaha House where the two lovers were putting up.

“I found Lali holding Tecra. I saw a colourless liquid on the floor of the waiting bay and at the staircase,” he said.

“Did you notice any blood on the floor, or on Tecra’s clothes?” the state prosecutor asked.

“No I only saw a colourless liquid. I don’t know whether it was water or urine, but Tecra and Lali were heavily drunk. I felt a strong odor of alcohol,” Mr Mohamed responded.

The witness said he rushed to his house to fetch two plastic sits to carry Tecra to the nearby Shella health clinic, but when he returned, she was unconscious. On the way to the facility, however, Tecra started uttering “unprintable words”.

They were later referred to King Fahad Hospital, where she was attended to before being flown to Nairobi by Amref.

Earlier, the witness said he was introduced to Tecra by Mr Lali in 2019. “They hired me for six days for a voyage around the beautiful islands in Lamu. I charged them Sh60,000 for the expedition,” said Mr Mohamed, a boat captain.

As a sign of appreciation, Tecra invited his family to visit her Naivasha home. “We visited with other relatives and she took us Hippo Point, Nakuru and Kisumu,” he said.

Mr Lali’s brothers, Quoswali and Abdul Hakim, said Tecra had accepted to be married by their kin and the two lovers enjoyed each other’s company.

“Theirs was a life full of love. She loved our mother and the entire family. When we welcomed her home, she said she would live with us for the rest of her life,” Quoswali told the court.

On the day Tecra allegedly fell from the balcony, Mr Lali called his brother at 5.45am and said his girlfriend was unconscious.

“When I arrived, I found Tecra lying down with blood oozing from her left ear. She was unconscious,” said Qwoswali.

Chief government pathologist, Dr Johansen Oduor, and Dr Andrew Kanyi Gachii, who performed the autopsy in the presence of three others – Prof Emily Rogen and neurosurgeons, Dr Oluoch Olunya and Dr Peter Kamau Wanyoike – said the cause of death was heavy brain injury caused by a blunt object.

Dr Wanyoike was, however, stood down because his statement had not been supplied to Mr Orengo and Prof Ongoya. Hearing continues.

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