Why Muchai murder suspects are staring at life imprisonment

Four members of a gang convicted of armed robberies that preceded the assassination of Kabete Member of Parliament George Muchai and his aides more than 11 years ago now face life imprisonment.

This follows Milimani Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina’s ruling on Friday, finding them guilty of three counts of robbery with violence, charges that under Kenyan law carry a mandatory sentence of death or life imprisonment.

In a judgement exceeding 2,000 pages, Onyina found that the prosecution had proved beyond a reasonable doubt that the four had jointly carried out a series of violent armed robberies across Nairobi and Kiambu counties.

The crimes occurred on the night of February 6 and into the early hours of February 7, 2015, just hours before the fatal shooting of Muchai, his driver, and two bodyguards at the Kenyatta Avenue–Uhuru Highway roundabout in Nairobi’s Central Business District.

The convicted are Eric Munyera Isabwa alias Chairman, Raphael Kimani Gachii alias Kim Butcher, Mustafa Kimani Anyoni alias Musto, and Stephen Astiva Lipopo alias Chokore.

“Accused 1, 2, 3, and 4 jointly robbed the complainants while armed with dangerous weapons and threatened to use violence during the offences. I find that Isabwa, Kimani, Mustafa, and Astiva are guilty of the first three charges of robbery with violence, and each violently robbed victims of their property,” Magistrate Onyina ruled.

The four were convicted under Section 296(2) of the Penal Code, robbery with violence, one of the most serious non-murder offences in Kenyan criminal law, attracting a mandatory sentence of death or life imprisonment.

However, the magistrate acquitted the prime suspect’s girlfriend, Margaret Njeri Wachiuri, and two other accused, Jane Wanjiru Kamau (Shiro) and Simon Wambugu Gichamba, on charges of robbery with violence due to insufficient evidence.

The court also found that Isabwa and his girlfriend Njeri were guilty of unlawful possession of the G3 rifle said to be the murder weapon in the killing of Muchai and his aides, as well as seven rounds of 7.62mm ammunition hidden in a golf bag at their Kinoo residence.

Wanjiru was found guilty of possessing stolen property, namely two rounds of 9mm ammunition without a firearm certificate, hidden under a stone in a black polythene bag outside her house.

Additionally, Gachii, Wanjiru’s boyfriend, was convicted on two further charges of possessing a Ceska pistol and 15 rounds of 9mm ammunition, believed to belong to one of Muchai’s slain police bodyguards, without a valid certificate.

Gichamba was acquitted of all charges, including robbery with violence and unlawful possession of stolen property, after the court heard that his role had been limited to charging a Nokia mobile phone later established to be among the items stolen by Gachii and Wanjiru. The magistrate found insufficient evidence to link Gichamba to the gang’s criminal enterprise.

 Court evidence paints a chilling picture of the night in question. Records indicate that the four convicted offenders violently robbed Michael Gatutu, his wife Jane Njoki Ngatia, sisters Gladys Waitheira and Irene Muthoni, and several other civilians hours before killing Muchai and his aides while buying newspapers shortly before 3 am.

Victims lost vehicles, mobile phones, laptops, cash, Muchai’s briefcase, and two pistols belonging to his bodyguards. Witnesses described how the suspects forced victims into vehicles, threatened them at gunpoint, and systematically moved from one robbery to another.

Evidence from 36 witnesses, led by investigating officer Inspector Moses Otiu, indicated that the crime spree began around 10 pm on February 6 along Waiyaki Way in Kangemi, when the gang ambushed Gatutu, a tutor who had parked his family’s beige Nissan Sunny (registration KBF796A, valued at Sh400,000) near a Shell petrol station while his wife bought vegetables from a roadside kiosk.

Four armed men surrounded the vehicle, one pressing a gun barrel to the driver’s window. Gatutu was ordered to open the door and jump into the back seat, which he did. The gang forced him into the boot and drove off, stripping the vehicle of a Nokia phone, a gas cylinder, household shopping, and cash, totalling Sh669,000.

His wife returned to find the car and her husband gone. From the boot, Gatutu heard the vehicle stop, women screaming, then the car reversing and speeding off again.

Unbeknownst to him, the gang had just committed a second robbery at Green Belt Estate in Wangige, where sisters Waitheira and Muthoni were forced from their vehicle at the gate and placed in the boot of their car. The sisters overheard the gang discussing their movements and mentioning Nairobi nightspots before hearing gunshots.

They were later abandoned in the bush along the Nairobi–Nakuru Highway in Kiambu County. They lost a mobile phone worth Sh15,000 and Sh600 in cash. Both women positively identified three of the accused at the identification parades.

A newspaper vendor who had sold papers to Muchai daily testified to the fatal shooting. “As I handed over the last newspaper, the Nairobian, a white saloon car with black-tinted windows pulled up in front of Muchai’s vehicle. A masked man stepped out from the driver’s seat carrying a rifle and opened fire without warning,” he testified. 

Guards from Nyayo House discovered a silver Toyota Fortuner KGF357B, with blood on every window.

Apart from the robbery with violence convictions, the suspects also face murder cases linked to Muchai and his aides, currently pending at the High Court at the defence hearing stage. The six convicted suspects are expected to be sentenced on March 18, 2026.