A witness on Tuesday tearfully narrated the frantic efforts they made as they tried to trace missing lawyer Willy Kimani and two others the night they disappeared.
Kimani, his client Josphat Mwendwa and taxi driver Joseph Muiruri had attended a case at the Mavoko law courts on June 23, after which they were allegedly abducted.
Kimani, a lawyer with the International Justice Mission(, was representing Mwenda in a case in which he had sued AP officer for attempted murder.
Their bodies were found stashed in gunny bags dumped in River a week after they went missing.
Yesterday, witness Umazi Malingi said that on the night the three disappeared, they moved from one police station to another as hopes of finding the three alive faded.
At some point, she said, somebody offered a glimmer of hope saying unidentified persons had thrown a piece of paper to him at Syokimau police post.
Sadly, the person had discarded the piece of paper – the only evidence that could help unravel the whereabouts of the missing three. She said she pleaded with the boda boda operator to go back and see if he could retrieve the piece of tissue paper.
Umazi, the director of investigations and law enforcement at IJM, was overcome by emotions as she recalled how she begged the operator to go back to the place he had thrown the paper.
“When I called him, he told me that he had thrown the tissue paper because the woman he called to pass the information called him a con man,” Umazi said.
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Pausing at some points to wipe away tears, she said, “I begged him to go back and look for it, but he said he had to go to work. I told him I was willing to pay him for that day as long as he traced the tissue paper.”
Justice Jessie Lesiit quickly called for a 20-minute break to allow Umazi compose herself.
She was testifying in the murder trial of AP officers Fredrick Leliman, Leonard Maina, Stephen Chebulet, Silvia Wanjiku and informer Peter Ngugi who have been charged with the murder of Kimani, his client Mwenda and driver Muiruri.
An emotional Umazi told the
court that she received a call at about 9 pm from her colleague telling her that Willy, his client Mwenda and the taxi driver were missing. She said the colleague then told of the note at Syokimau chief’s camp.
The witness said together with other officers from IJM, they went to Mlolongo police station to bail out Kimani, Mwenda and Muiruri, thinking they were being held at the station.
But they were not there and at 15 minutes to midnight, they went to Syokimau police camp where they found a police officer named Faith. The officer allegedly informed them that the three were not there.
“Mameti called out for Willy but there was no response. We then asked Faith to open the door to the container but she said there was nobody inside. We left for Nairobi area and were informed that the car they had used earlier had been spotted at Tigoni area."
She told court that at about 2 am they went to one of their director’s house where they emailed their main office. They later went back to Nairobi area and were advised to get assistance from officers from flying squad.
They met another group of officers from the Independent Policing Oversight Authority and flying squad and went back to Syokimau chief’s camp. They proceeded to the construction site where they met the boda boda operator who was questioned. He handed them the tissue paper.
The rider told them that he called Mwenda’s wife, Rebecca, but she dismissed him saying he was a conman, making him throw away the piece of paper.