Four convicted over murder of former Kabete MP George Muchai and his aides

The High Court has convicted four men of murdering former Kabete MP George Muchai and his three companions in a February 2015 Nairobi shooting.

Justice Kanyi Kimondo of Milimani High Court found Eric Mungera Isabwa, Raphael Kimani Gachii, Mustafa Kimani Anyoni and Stephen Astiva Lipopo guilty of four counts of murder after concluding that the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt.

“In the upshot, the Republic has proved beyond any reasonable doubt that on the night of 6th and 7th February 2015 along Kenyatta Avenue within Nairobi, the four accused persons jointly murdered Hon George Mukuru Muchai, police constable Samuel Kimathi, police constable Samuel Lekakeny and Stephen Ituu,” Justice Kimondo ruled.

“I therefore find all four accused persons guilty  on all four counts of murder and convict them accordingly,” he added.

The four were convicted over the deaths of Muchai, his two police bodyguards, Constables Kimathi and  Lekakeny, and his driver Itu.

The court heard that the four victims were attacked at about 3.40 am at the Kenyatta Avenue-Uhuru Highway roundabout after leaving a hotel in Westlands.

Muchai had stopped briefly to buy newspapers before armed men blocked his vehicle and opened fire.

The prosecution called 37 witnesses during the murder trial, presenting a combination of eyewitness, forensic, police and circumstantial evidence linking the accused to the killings.

The evidence included accounts from people who encountered the events around the time of the shooting as well as evidence concerning firearms and property recovered during the investigation.

Justice Kimondo found that the evidence against the four was overwhelming and established their participation in the killings.

The court specifically found the first accused, Isabwa, linked to the shooting as the gunman who fired at Muchai and his aides.

The prosecution's case was that the accused persons acted together in the attack, with the evidence placing them within a chain of events that began with a series of robberies in Nairobi and Kiambu on the night preceding the killings.

Among the witnesses who testified was newspaper vendor Ronald Nyangaresi, who told the court that he had just handed newspapers to Muchai before the attack.

He said he fled after seeing an armed, hooded man carrying what was described as a G3 rifle.

Muchai's widow, Susan Nyawira, also testified, recalling that she was travelling in another vehicle ahead of her husband's car when she heard gunshots.

When she returned to the scene, she found the vehicle with its windows shattered and the occupants dead.

The court also considered evidence concerning a G3 rifle recovered during the investigation.

 Police had linked the firearm to one that had previously been stolen from a police officer.

The prosecution further relied on evidence from motorists who were carjacked on the same night, with investigators alleging that vehicles stolen during the robberies were connected to the events surrounding the Muchai shooting.

The four accused had denied the murder allegations and challenged the prosecution's evidence during the trial.

The case began with seven people facing the four murder charges.

However, in September 2025, Justice Kimondo ruled that Jane Wanjiru Kamau, Margaret Njeri Wachiuri and Simon Wambugu Gichamba had no case to answer and acquitted them.

The judge held that the prosecution had failed to present sufficient evidence linking the three to the killings.

The four remaining accused were subsequently placed on their defence after the judge found that the prosecution had established a prima facie case against them.

 At that stage, the prosecution had already called 37 witnesses.

Muchai was serving as Kabete MP when he was killed on February 7, 2015.

 He was travelling along Kenyatta Avenue with his two police bodyguards and driver when the attackers struck.

The murder case is separate from a related robbery-with-violence prosecution arising from offences committed on the same night.

In that case, four of the accused, Isabwa, Gachii, Anyoni and Lipopo were convicted of robbery with violence and sentenced to death by Milimani Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina in April 2026.

Two other accused, Wanjiru and Njeri, received 10-year prison terms for firearm-related offences.

The prosecution in that case called 36 witnesses and presented evidence concerning robberies in which property worth about Sh1.1 million was stolen.

The High Court murder conviction now establishes the four men's criminal liability for the deaths of Muchai, his two bodyguards and his driver.

The four are expected to proceed to mitigation before the court determines the next stage of the murder proceedings.