Doubts arise after Kware murder suspect's arrest

DCI boss Mohamed Amin flanked by acting Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja and other senior officers address the press outside Jogoo House Nairobi on July 14, 2024, about the recovered bodies from the Kware dumpsite. [Denish Ochieng, Standard]

The arrest of a man linked to bodies recovered from an abandoned quarry that has been turned into a dumpsite in Mukuru Kwa Njenga slums has raised eyebrows over the manner in which the probe is being conducted.

There was skepticism when Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss Mohamed Amin announced that they had arrested the prime suspect identified as Collins Jumaisi Khalusha. The 33-year-old was arrested in Kayole’s Soweto area while watching Europe 2024 football finals.

Upon his arrest, Khalusha led police to his single-room rental house in Kware, located approximately 100 metres from the site where the decomposing bodies and parts were discovered on Friday.

Investigators recovered including multiple SIM cards, smartphones, a laptop, machete, sacks similar to those used to dispose off the recovered bodies, and identification cards belonging to various individuals, one pick female handbag, two female panties, five rolls of bhang, four huge clear sellotape, one nylon rope, a reflector jacket, two title deeds, two notebooks and assorted documents.

According to Amin, the suspect was arrested at around 3am on Monday following a thorough forensic analysis of a mobile phone belonging to one of the victims, Josephine Mulungo Owino which revealed mobile money transactions conducted on the day Josephine went missing.

“His arrest followed thorough forensic analysis of a mobile phone belonging to one of the victims identified as Josephine Owino where some mobile money transactions were made when she went missing,” said Amin. Khalusa allegedly told detective interrogating him that he had lured, killed and disposed the 42 female bodies at the some spot between 2022 and July 11, 2024. 

“The suspect alleged that his first victim was his wife Imelda Judith Khalenya whom he strangled to death before dismembering her body and disposing it at the same site. From the interrogation, all his victims have been murdered in the same style,” said Amin. It was not clear if Khalusa’s mental fitness was assessed before he made the confession that would he is a serial killer.

When The Standard returned to Mukuru Kwa Njenga after Amin’s address in a bid to trace Khalusa house, residents denied knowing him nor his alleged residence, casting doubt on the DCI’s version. “We do not know the guy who has been caught, and we have never seen him in this area. We would really like to know the neighbours or the landlord of this said person; otherwise, we do not believe in the statements by the DCI,” said one resident.

Social media reactions also questioned the DCI’s statements, pointing to unresolved murder cases like that of Rita Waeni. Many expressed skepticisms about the swift arrest of Khalusa,.

Meanwhile, the postmortem examination of bodies began last evening at city mortuary. Government pathologists Dr Johansen Oduor and a team of offficers from DCI spent the better part of the day taking DNA samples from various body parts.

This happened even as women leaders led by Anne Waiguru, chairperson of Council of Governors condemned the killings.

Additional reporting by Emmanuel Kipchumba