IG Kanja declines to give timelines in lawyer Kyalo Mbobu’s murder probe

Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja has declined to commit to timelines in the investigation into the recent murder of city lawyer Kyalo Mbobu, saying detectives require space to complete the process thoroughly.

Speaking on Citizen TV’s Monday Report program, Kanja said the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) had constituted a strong team to handle the case, but cautioned against rushing the probe.

“Investigation is a process, which, as the DCI has said, he has set up a very strong team with all the necessary capabilities to ensure that the murder is unravelled,” he said.

When pressed to indicate how long it would take before results are made public, Kanja said it was too early to commit.

“At this stage, I cannot give timelines, but as I have said, he (DCI boss Mohamed Amin) is under instructions to move with speed and settle that issue and bring to book those who committed that heinous crime,” he said.

The police chief added that accountability would follow once the suspects are identified and apprehended.

“Once we lay our hands on the criminals, we can then be able to give timelines,” Kanja said.

Mbobu, a prominent lawyer and former chair of the Political Parties' Dispute Tribunal, was killed in a drive-by shooting last Tuesday evening along Magadi Road in Nairobi’s Karen area.

He was shot eight times by unidentified gunmen who thereafter escaped on a motorcycle.

Three individuals who had been held as persons of interest in the murder were released on Saturday night, and Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen has blamed delays in apprehending suspects on the absence of CCTV cameras along Magadi Road.

But he said on Sunday that investigators had gathered valuable leads from people close to the lawyer.

Meanwhile, IG Kanja has until Thursday to submit an investigation report into the murder to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) for review.

“While welcoming the Director of Criminal Investigations' commitment to securing justice, the DPP has called for an expedited investigation to ensure all critical evidence is identified, collected, and preserved in strict accordance with the law,” DPP Renson Ingonga’s office said in a statement on Thursday.

Mbobu's murder is the latest in a worrying pattern of gun-toting assailants on motorbikes who kill their target in public. 

On April 30, Kasipul MP Charles Were was shot dead in the Nairobi evening traffic at the City Mortuary roundabout on Ngong Road by a gunman whose accomplice was riding a motorbike. 

The gunman alighted from the motorbike at a red light and opened fire at close range before fleeing the scene with the rider.