Cover up claims as kin demand justice for slain student leader
Nairobi
By
Okumu Modachi
| Jan 21, 2026
Concerns of cover up have emerged in search for justice for a former student leader, Bill Kaunda, who died days after he was controversially involved in a road accident.
According the deceased brother, David Kaunda, Bill was hit on a pedestrian walkway by a speeding motorist along Raila Odinga Way (formerly Mbagathi Road), just after alighting from a matatu.
Bill was knocked down on January 11, 2025 and rushed to Kenyatta National Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries on January 13. “I rushed there and got him already admitted at critical room. He was in so much pain,” he told The Standard at the scene yesterday.
“I know you don’t like to being in hospital, but just stay with me here,” David painfully narrated his brothers last moments. “Thereafter he hugged his wife, my younger brother, and told his friend about the pain he was undergoing. He then went to the theatre and never spoke again,” he said, fighting back emotions.
“I have been here (at the scene) since my brother died, trying to question why he had to leave at that young age,” he said.
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Kaunda was a Bachelors of Pharmacy student at Mount Kenya University. He has left behind a one-year-old son and a wife.
And now, questions emerge over how the police are handling the matter, with the family and Bill’s friends reading foul play. “Initially, they indicated that Bill was a pillion passenger, and later after my brother succumbed, the abstract was shifted to say that the vehicle hit a pedestrian,” David said.
He also said the manner in which the suspect and the vehicle were released, was suspicious. “The motorist involved was arrested on the day of the accident and then released a day later on a cash bail of Sh10,000. The vehicle was also released the same day,” he said.
The pace with which the case is being handled has also been a matter of concern to the family. “What we need is justice. Justice for him, justice for his son, and justice for his wife. It has been a gruesome nine days,” he said of the sudden demise of the 27-year-old.
The cry for justice also saw Nairobi Student Leaders Caucus storm Langata police station demanding answers on the “undeserved” death.
“We came on Monday, after Bill was knocked down on Sunday. We requested thorough investigation by police. They said the case is still active, they opened a file. But we have been making persistent calls, and they have not given us concrete information,” decried SK Kajwang, former MKU student leader.
The youth spent hours at the station crying for justice. According Newton Kiambati, a former student leader who worked with Bill, the deceased was “a leader, a friend, a man defined by integrity and service” and was “struck while walking on a public pavement, a space meant to protect life, not put it in harm’s way.”
“Justice for Bill Kaunda is not a request. It is a demand. It is a duty. Every moment of delay, every attempt to diminish the severity of this loss, is a betrayal not only of Bill but of the principles that define us as a society. The law must be applied fully. Accountability must be enforced without compromise,” said Kajwang.
Area OCPD Pius Mwanthi addressed the youth, saying there was no need of hurrying the process only for the Office of Director of Public Prosecution to decline to approve the charges for lack of evidence.
“Let the file be brought on Friday and hand over to my DCIO so that we can have a water-tight case. The threshold should be beyond reasonable doubt,” he said.