City Hall: Staffer who jumped to death was extorting

Nairobi City County.[Courtesy]

A Nairobi County enforcement officer who jumped to death from the sixth of City Hall Annex in May was being investigated for claims of extortion, findings of an investigation reveals.

Oscar Mungai Kanyi jumped from the City Hall Annex on May 30 and landed on the pavement, ending his life on the spot.

The findings were tabled before the County Assembly’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee after the conclusion of the investigations conducted by the county’s investigations department.

It also emerged that Mungai was not supposed to be on duty on the fateful day but he was arrested in connection with collecting money from a member of the public.

According to the report, several members of the public had complained that they were being extorted by fake county inspectorate officers within the city centre before the incident.

“Available information is that the extortion was being carried out by persons, some of whom donned county uniforms, “ Frank Masaka, the county’s director of investigations and information analysis stated in the report.

“On May 31, investigating officers from the investigations and information analysis department were on duty within the city centre when they detected a case of possible impersonation along Moi Avenue,” Masaka noted.

It is stated that the officers responded and arrested Joseph Muchiri, a member of the public and the deceased Kanyi, who was in full county inspectorate uniform yet he was on leave.

Upon arrest of the two, they were escorted to City Hall Annex 6th floor for questioning and that is when the deceased, Mungai jumped through the window in a bid to escape and landed on the roof of the second floor.

“While on the roof of the second floor, the deceased further attempted to get to the ground but unfortunately fell and died on the spot,” the report says.

Not long ago Digital taxi operators at the Nairobi city centre reported that county askaris were robbing them in broad daylight.