Man accused of killing three men in Kilifi arrested in Fedha, Nairobi

A shell of the vehicle belonging to three men lynched in Kilifi on July 7, 2021. [File, Standard]

Police have arrested a middle-aged man accused of lynching three people in Kilifi on July 7.

Robert Mganga was arrested at his rented house in Fedha, Nairobi on Friday evening.

Police say the suspect fled Kilifi after taking part in the lynching of three men, who had been mistaken for kidnappers.

Mganga becomes the sixteenth person to be arrested in connection with the killings.

The deceased – Sidik Anwarali Sumra, Rahil Mohamed Kasmani and James Kazungu – were killed by a mob at Junju B Village over a suspected land dispute.

Sumra, a prominent investor and well-known dairy farmer in the region, was the brother of former Embakasi South MP Irshad Sumra.

He was killed alongside his driver Kasmani and Kazungu, a local agent.

Police said investigations indicated that local leaders incited residents against non-locals, leading to the trio’s killing.

According to eyewitnesses, Kazungu pleaded with the attackers, but the assailants heard none of his pleas.

The trio’s bodies, which had deep cuts in the heads, were dragged on the ground for a distance. They’d later be left by the roadside near Junju Secondary School.

In July, the Inspector-General of Police Hillary Mutyambai said the three had gone to inspect a parcel of land before they were attacked by hired goons.

“Our investigations show the trio were attacked and killed with sharp and blunt objects, as they surveyed a parcel of land they wanted to buy,” he said.

In July, 13 suspects, including an ex-MCA, were arraigned in connection with the killings.