City lawyer Assa Nyakundi faces fresh murder charge

Lawyer Assa Nyakundi is arraigned in a Kiambu court on April 26, 2019 over the death of his son. He was re-arrested on Wednesday in Nairobi. FILE PHOTO | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The lawyer's son, Joseph Bogonko, 29, died in mysterious circumstances on March 17.

  • Mr Nyakundi was arraigned for manslaughter but last month Directorate of Criminal Investigations head George Kinoti said he believed the charge is a result of a bungled investigation.
  • The file at Kiambu court does not include scene of crime photos, a scene of crime analysis report or a ballistics report.

Nairobi lawyer Assa Nyakundi was yesterday re-arrested and detained for hours at the Directorate of Criminal Investigations before being moved to Kamukunji Police Station in connection with the killing of his son.

Director of Criminal Investigations, George Kinoti, said they were planning to charge Mr Nyakundi afresh.

The lawyer had been out on a Sh300,000 cash bail after pleading not guilty to manslaughter charges preferred against him and which attract life imprisonment under Section 205 of the Penal Code.

But a few minutes past noon Wednesday, Mr Nyakundi was arrested by officers from DCI as he left an office in the Central Business District. “He is in custody. We will arraign him and press murder charges against him,” Mr Kinoti told the Nation on phone.

Earlier Wednesday, High Court Judge Christine Meoli disqualified herself from hearing the case. The judge cited conflict of interest, saying that the accused was her classmate, and referred the case to Milimani Law Courts under Justice Ngenye Macharia.

The lawyer is accused of shooting dead his son, Joseph Nyakundi, on March 17 near his house.

A day after the killing, Mr Nyakundi was admitted in hospital with police telling the court during previous appearances that he was not in a stable condition to allow statement recording.

Later, he told police that he was trying to holster his firearm while in the car when he accidentally fired, shooting his son in the chest. He died instantly.

A few weeks after his arrest, the Mr Kinoti interdicted two investigating officers on grounds of incompetence, saying that he had not approved the file that was used to charge Mr Nyakundi with manslaughter.

He intensified investigations after the autopsy report indicated that the deceased might have been shot from outside the vehicle - not inside - as the accused had claimed.