Ugandan herbalist sentenced to 25 years in jail for killing Kenyan nurse

Eldoret Presiding Judge Reuben Nyakundi convicted the herbalist, Mawanda Asuma, in connection with the killing of Ferdinand Ongeri, who was the deputy chairman of the KNUN Kisumu branch.

The nurse, who was aged 40 years, was based at the Ramogi Institute of Advanced Technology (RIAT) dispensary in Kisumu County.

Asuma reportedly committed the said criminal offence between July 24 and July 27, 2019, in Kimondi forest, Nandi County.

Asuma had pleaded not guilty to the murder charge and was denied bail after the prosecution convinced the court that he was a flight risk.

In his ruling, the Judge said the prosecution had proved the murder case against the convict beyond a reasonable doubt.

When he was put on his defense in December 2024, Asuma distanced himself from the torture and murder of the slain nurses saying the deceased was not only his client but also best friend.

He told the court that he had been administering herbal medicine to the deceased, who was suffering from complications related to obesity, arguing that there was no way he could have contributed to his demise.

The court was told that the herbalist operated his business in East African states among them Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania and Rwanda.

Ongeri went missing from his workstation just after successfully negotiating a promotion for nurses  with the regional government’s health department

His decomposed body was later found dumped in Kimondi forest, a few metres away from Kapsabet town in Nandi County by herdsmen who reported the incident to the local authorities.

Kiptuywa area Chief in Nandi County, Emily Cherono, who was among the first national government officials to arrive at the scene where the body was dumped, told the court in her testimony that the body had several bruises with deep cuts on the stomach and in the mouth.

The deceased’s widow, Brossy Makimtingwa Ongeri who is also a nurse and a Ugandan citizen, told the court that she received the news of the death of her husband moments after frantic efforts to reach him on his mobile phone failed.

The late Ongeri’s mother Isabela Ongeri, who is a retired nurse recalled her last moments with her son saying she had spoken with him by phone and he had promised to visit her the following week which never came to be.