Recent killing in posh suburb turns focus to gun ownership

Investigations into the killing of a 28-year-old businessman in Kilimani at the weekend have shifted to the Firearm Licensing Board after reports emerged of the killer weapon’s bloody past.

This as the latest incident reignites the puzzle of posh Nairobi residence where luxurious lifestyle and crime reside side by side.

Kilimani DCI chief Fatuma Hadi has now written to the Charles Mukindia-led Firearms Licensing Board (FLB) seeking details of the firearm believed to have been used to shoot Kevin Omwenga.

This in the backdrop of allegations that the area police had earlier recommended the board to withdraw the said firearm after its licensed owner was reportedly involved in a gun drama at the B Club. He was later charged with assault and causing bodily harm.

Gun misuse

Should the details by the firearms board confirm that it is the same weapon that the police confiscated from the businessman, focus will shift to how the board returned the same weapon to its owner despite numerous cases of alleged misuse of the weapon.

Two men, including businessman Chris Obure, have been arrested in connection with the shooting.

Yesterday, the police said they would be seeking more time from the court to conclude investigations after they recovered a Mini Ceska firearm with 13 bullets from one of the suspects.

The businessman was pronounced dead at a Nairobi hospital where he was rushed for treatment for gunshot wounds on his chest.

A police report from Kilimani Police Station to police headquarters, Vigilance House, stated that the Ceska pistol Serial number B156623 was recovered from a safe box at an apartment still in Kilimani. The report stated that the office in which the weapon was found is owned by Obure.

By yesterday, the police had recorded statements from Wycliff Omwenga, a brother of the deceased, who reported the shooting to the police, and Robert Bodo Ouko, the prime suspect.

Others expected to record statements is a man and a woman who were caught on CCTV cameras of the flat where the businessman lived and died.

Sources told The Standard that in his statement, Ouko claimed the incident was accidental. He said the bullet discharged as Omwenga was handing over the weapon to him.

He told the police that Omwenga was carrying the weapon as they got into the house and they had gone to the bedroom for him to hand over the weapon when the incident happened.

Ouko recorded his first statement at the Kilimani Police Station on Saturday, hours after the shooting incident at Galana Suites along Galana Road.

He said he, Omwenga, his brother and a female friend had been at an office near the residence and decided to go to the house for supper.

All along, according to him, Omwenga even though he is not licensed to carry the weapon was having it in his waist for a show-off. When he decided to leave, according to Ouko, they decided to go to the bedroom for him to hand it back. Ouko acts as a bodyguard to Obure who is their partner in business.

Police took him to the house on Saturday afternoon where he also demonstrated what and how it happened. Obure, on his part, told police he didn’t know what happened. 

Reports suggest Omwenga was slated to travel to Dubai on Sunday for another business deal.

The latest killing is one of the many incidents which have besmirched the once prestigious neighbourhood.

It is in the same estate that Embakasi East MP Paul Ongili aka Babu Owino was involved in a bloody altercation with DJ Felix Orinda aka DJ Evolve on January 17. Later, Owino was charged in court over the incident but was released on a cash bail of Sh10 million.

Other unsolved incidents of the area include the killing of Careen Kipchumba, a former Kenya Power staff who was found dead in her flat in the area, the killing of Southern Sudan based businesswoman Monicah Kimani, and the recent murder of a 33-year-old Sheila Murage while attending a house party in the same area.

On March 11, this year, still in Kilimani, Dafton Mwitiki, a gun enthusiast who found his way to nationwide fame when he appeared at the Dusit D2 terror attack in a military grade rifle, was reported missing at the Kilimani Police Station. He has not been seen ever since.

Blend of interests

The 38-year-old businessman was last spotted leaving his office at Galana Plaza in Kilimani on March 20. He was the head of marketing at the National Gun Owners Association when he disappeared.

Kilimani police division is no ordinary police division. It is in Kilimani Police Station that even President Uhuru Kenyatta or e his relatives would have to file a report in the event of anything that requires the attention of the police.

A less privileged member of the society living in some parts of Kibera slums will also report to the same station. This blend of interests gives Kilimani Police Station and Division commanders more prestige and status than other officers serving in Nairobi.

Lucas Oigara is the current Kilimani police boss. Fatuma Hadi is the DCI chief. The two are the top cops at this prestigious police division.