A Kenyan court has sentenced four men—Eric Munyera, Raphael Kimani, Mustafa Kimani and Stephen Lipopo—to death after convicting them of robbery with violence linked to the killing of former Kabete MP George Muchai.
The court found that the four were part of a coordinated criminal gang that carried out a deadly attack on Muchai in Nairobi in February 2015, an incident that also claimed the lives of his two bodyguards and driver.
According to evidence presented in court, the attackers ambushed Muchai’s vehicle at night and opened fire at close range using high-powered firearms in what investigators described as a calculated and targeted operation.
Prosecutors told the court that the suspects trailed the former legislator before executing the attack, pointing to a level of planning and coordination consistent with organized criminal activity.
The gang is said to have robbed the victims during the incident, taking items including personal belongings, a factor that formed the basis of the robbery with violence charge.
Under Kenyan law, robbery with violence attracts the death penalty when offenders are armed, act in a group, and use or threaten to use violence—conditions the court ruled were fully met in this case.
The prosecution built its case on testimony from dozens of witnesses, including a protected witness who placed some of the accused at the centre of the operation on the night of the killings.
Forensic evidence also played a key role, with exhibits recovered during investigations linking the suspects to the weapons believed to have been used in the attack.
The court heard that the accused persons acted jointly with others who may not have been arrested, reinforcing the finding that the crime was carried out by an organized group.
The case initially involved seven suspects, but three were acquitted at an earlier stage after the court found insufficient evidence to place them at the scene of the crime.
The remaining four were placed on their defence after the court determined that the prosecution had established a prima facie case requiring them to respond to the charges.
In its judgment, the court concluded that the robbery and the killings were interconnected, and that the use of lethal force elevated the offence to robbery with violence.
In addition to the conviction that led to the death sentence, the four men are still facing separate murder charges over the deaths of George Muchai and the three others killed in the attack.
The killing of Muchai, a prominent trade unionist and politician, sent shockwaves across the country at the time and raised concerns about security and the targeting of public figures.
The ruling brings to a close a case that has spanned nearly a decade, with the court’s decision seen as a significant step in delivering justice to the victims and their families while underscoring the judiciary’s firm stance against violent crime.
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FELIX MAKONA
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