Kabete MP George Muchai, body guards and driver shot dead in Nairobi CBD

Kabete MP George Muchai at Milimani Law Courts in November 2014. (Photo: File/Standard)

Nairobi, Kenya: Kabete MP George Muchai, his two bodyguards and a driver were early Saturday morning shot dead in cold blood at Kenyatta Avenue-Uhuru Highway roundabout in Nairobi.

The four were driving in a Toyota Fortuner vehicle when a masked gunman shot them at close range at about 2.30am. They all died on their seats save for one bodyguard who seemed to have passed on as he tried to step out.

Witnesses said they had stopped at the roundabout near Nyayo House to buy the day’s newspapers when a white salon Probox hit the vehicle on the right side and stopped few meters ahead.

It was then that a masked gunman armed with an AK-47 rifle stepped out and first shot the driver then turned to the rest of the victims.

Muchai was a first time MP. He joined Parliament in the March 2013 elections on a TNA ticket.

The gunman fired about ten bullets before he went for two pistols that the bodyguards had and a briefcase that was in the car. Muchai’s gun was found on his holster. He was a licensed gun holder.

Nairobi head of CID Nicholas Kamwende who was among the first top cops to arrive at the scene termed the incident as murder.

“The attackers seem to have trailed the victims from Westlands to the scene where the shooting happened. We are yet to know the motive.”

According to Muchai’s daughter who was at the scene, they had been at Galileo Bar and Restaurant in Westlands for a family meeting and were leaving for their Kamulu home along Kangundo Road when the incident happened.

The daughter, Muchai’s wife and two relatives were driving in a different saloon car, ahead of the MP’s. She said they planned to buy the newspapers then drop the driver at the nearby Kencom bus stop before heading to Kumulu.

Witnesses said a newspaper vendor had approached the MP after he stopped along Kenyatta Avenue few meters from the roundabout when the probox that seemed to have been trailing them emerged.

After the gunman stepped out and started to fire, the vendor escaped from the scene dropping his newspapers.

“The vendor came back and picked his newspapers then ran away after the incident had happened and the car sped off. We don’t know who they were,” said a witness at the scene.