The watery graves of Masinga

Sunday
October 7,  2012

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Part of Masinga Dam.   Photo|FILE|NATION MEDIA GROUP

By KENFREY KIBERENGE kkiberenge@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Saturday, October 6  2012 at  22:33

In Summary

• The manner of the killings and body disposal points to a highly efficient squad of hit men on the loose in Nairobi and its environs.
• The residents of Masinga say the bodies are usually dropped into the river from the Tana River bridge on the Nairobi-Nyeri highway in the wee hours of the morning.
• Local chief Raphael Musyoka told the Sunday Nation that in August and September he had retrieved 10 bodies from the river all disposed of in the same way.
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A sombre mood engulfed Tumu Tumu village in Gatundu last Friday as the disfigured body of Pius Kimani, a local matatu sacco official, was lowered to its final resting place.

The body of the man who had disappeared on August 22 was retrieved in a sack from the lake behind Masinga dam on September 4.

The discovery of the remains set off a barrage of theories after the people who live near the dam said they had retrieved tens of bodies from the lake and the river disposed of in a similar manner.

Mr Kimani’s body had been tied with cables and stuffed in a sack that was attached to a huge stone with a nylon cord, according to Thika Level 5 hospital mortuary attendant John Muchina who received it from the police.

The manner of the killings and body disposal points to a highly efficient squad of hit men on the loose in Nairobi and its environs.

The residents of Masinga say the bodies are usually dropped into the river from the Tana River bridge on the Nairobi-Nyeri highway in the wee hours of the morning.

Local chief Raphael Musyoka told the Sunday Nation that in August and September he had retrieved 10 bodies from the river all disposed of in the same way.

“All of them were put in sacks, naked, and did not have any identification documents,” he said.

Police take the bodies to Kangundo District Hospital mortuary, he said, but Sunday Nation established that the officers usually take them to different morgues.

At the Thika District Hospital mortuary Mr Muchina spoke of being tricked by the police into accepting the bodies. The attendant said four bodies in sacks were recently brought in by police from the dam.

“They lied to me that the relatives were on their way because they couldn’t travel in the same vehicle because of the stench,” Mr Muchina said. “I’m now wondering because it’s over a month, and they haven’t been claimed.”

“In all instances, the chin, thigh and torso were pressed together with the hands and tied using electricity cables.”

He said all the bodies were in sacks. “Some bodies bore marks around the neck, a strong indication of strangulation as the mode of killing,” he said.

Yatta Officer Commanding Police Division Joel Sang confirmed that his officers retrieved bodies from the dam.

“On Friday, one body was claimed by a family from Gatundu, but there are still more unclaimed bodies,” he said, referring to Mr Kimani’s body.

Before his death, Mr Kimani was the chairman of the Gatundu Umoja matatu sacco and had received several death threats through SMS. His is the latest in a series of cold-blooded murders of matatu officials in the area.

But his family wants the police to investigate whether he could have been delivered to his killers by people he was dealing with.

They said he had collected Sh2.2m for a purported army officer during the August recruitment drive to secure places for two of his relatives and nine others.

His sister Jane Wanjiku said Mr Kimani had been introduced to the “army boss” by a local woman.

The purported army man, only identified as Mr Muhoho, had allegedly promised to secure a place in the army for one of Mr Kimani’s children at a fee of Sh200,000.

“Upon delivery, he was given a call letter and asked if he could get another person. He took another Sh200,000 for a place for our niece,” Ms Wanjiku said.

Their cousin, Peter Kimani, whom he had employed as his matatu driver, recalls accompanying Mr Kimani to deliver the money on several occasions. The purported army boss, he says, was chauffeured to the meeting points in a posh car.

“He told Mr Kimani he could secure as many positions as possible each for Sh200,000. So it was like a contract,” the cousin said.

Using the call letter as evidence, Mr Kimani got nine more potential recruits, his child and niece included; the total fee amounted to Sh2.2 million. “But after he paid the last amount via M-Pesa, he disappeared,” Ms Wanjiku said.

On the day he disappeared, Mr Kimani had gone to pick up the “call letter” which he had given to a Criminal Investigations Department officer to authenticate.

The family suspects the detective might have worked with the fraudsters to deliver Mr Kimani to the killers.

As other recruits were reporting to the Recruit Training School in early September, the “army boss” called Mr Kimani’s wife to tell her that the deal was still on and the 11 would-be cadets should report to the school in Eldoret. Family members now suspect this was an attempted alibi.

“They (recruits) spent a whole day waiting for Muhoho to show up, but he kept talking about anti-corruption officials and later his phone went off. Even the number of the lady who had linked them has been off,” Ms Wanjiku said.

“We suspect that since they knew they could not honour their part of the bargain, having pocketed Sh2.2 million, they enlisted the hit men to eliminate our brother.”

After his body was retrieved from Masinga dam, a worker at the Thika mortuary contacted the family informing them they had several unidentified bodies.

“We went and identified him because he had a missing finger,” Ms Wanjiku said.

Three unclaimed bodies remain at the Thika mortuary. Police booked them as Bernard Kivisoo, Raphael Mutembei and an unknown African male.

The attendant said police normally order post-mortems on such bodies after which they are taken to the Nairobi City Mortuary before they are buried at the Lang’ata cemetery.

Jack Mutinda, who sells fish near the Tana bridge, said he has witnessed the retrieval of two bodies – an African woman and a white man – from the river.

“One was on the river bed and the other on the bank,” he said.

According to Charles Mutinda, who works on a farm near the dam and who has occasionally alerted the authorities about floating bodies, the people who dispose of the bodies attach stones to the sacks to ensure that they sink and remain under the water. The sacks used are similar to the ones that mitumba (second-hand) clothes come in and are watertight.

“There are instances when the police vehicles come every day of the week,” Mr Mutinda said.

Ann Mutinda, who has a vegetable farm near the dam, recalls occasions when dogs retrieve human body parts from the water.

“Nobody will ever know the correct number of bodies dropped into the river,” said Ms Mutinda. “At one time I saw a dog dash across my homestead carrying a human head and another day it was a human leg.”

She said there has been no effort by the police to check the water for bodies. “Many bodies decompose before the police arrive as they take time to respond,” Mr Mutinda said.

Mr Musyoka, the local chief, said sometimes he is forced to pay fishermen Sh1,000-1,500 to retrieve the bodies from the water.

Francis Ndunda, who works at Ms Mutinda’s farm, said he has helped retrieve six bodies from the dam. His workmate Joseph Mbithi said he has assisted in the recovery of three bodies between August and September.

“The rumour around is that the bodies are thrown off at the bridge. They are then swept downstream,” he said.