Court detains three suspects over murder of a Nyeri chief

Kamakwa Location Chief Peter Kimiti who was killed by gunmen. Three suspects linked to the murder have been remanded for five days to allow to police complete investigations. PHOTO | NICHOLAS KOMU | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • Mr Kimiti was killed on Thursday last week by gunmen who shot him three times.
  • One of the suspects in custody is a bod boda rider who is alleged to have ferried the gunmen.
  • The Union of Kenya Civil Servants petitioned government to provide chiefs with firearms.

Three suspects linked to the recent murder of a chief in Nyeri have been remanded for five days to allow to police complete investigations.

An officer from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations told the court that James Makara King’ori, Ronald Njuguna Waithaka and Duncan Munyaki Wambui are some of the prime suspects in the murder of Chief Peter Kimiti.

Mr Kimiti was killed on Thursday last week by gunmen who shot him three times in the chest outside his home in Gitathini village of Kamakwa Location in Nyeri town.

The DCI officer told the court that detectives are still pursuing other suspects in connection to the murder and that investigations are not yet complete and, therefore, the suspects could not take plea.

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“We are investigating a murder case. We need more time,” he told Nyeri Resident Magistrate Ruth Kefa.

After allowing the application, the magistrate fixed the case for mention on August 6, 2018.

A police source told journalists that one of the suspects in custody is a bod boda rider who is alleged to have ferried the gunmen to and from the chief’s home.

Following the mysterious murder, the Union of Kenya Civil Servants petitioned government to provide chiefs with firearms.

The union’s Nyeri region secretary Daniel Ndung’u said the administrators are working in risky and insecure circumstances due to the high number of guns in the hands of the wrong people.

Mr Ndung’u said that chiefs and their assistants should be issued with licences to carry guns in order to protect themselves.