• Gachunga was a licensed gun holder and is said to have shot his wife three times on Tuesday evening before turning the gun to himself.
• Police said they recovered his mini Glock gun from the scene.
A couple was found dead in their house in Kiambu Town after an apparent murder and suicide.
The body of 42-year-old businessman in spare parts Jonathan Mukundi Gachunga was found alongside that of his wife Philomena Njeri, 30 hours after the incident had happened.
The motive of the incident is yet to be known. Friends who had seen Gachunga hours earlier said he looked jovial.
Gachunga was a licensed gun holder and operated his spare parts shop in Industrial Area, Nairobi. His wife worked at the shop.
He is said to have shot his wife three times on Tuesday evening before turning the gun to himself.
The lifeless bodies of the two were found inside their bedroom which had been locked from inside.
They were later moved to the mortuary.
Police said they recovered his mini Glock gun from the scene. Kiambu police boss Ali Nuno said they are investigating the incident.
Image: COURTESY
It adds the number of people who have committed suicide in the past days, which has hit almost 600 in four months.
On July 31, a prison warden committed suicide in his house in Kamagambo area, Migori County days after he had gone on social media and issued threats to do so.
The body of constable Seth Ojwang, 33 was found dangling from his roof.
He was attached to Siaya prisons.
Ojwang had last week threatened to commit suicide over domestic issues he had with his wife.
His family told police they were aware the deceased had issues with this wife and they know it was the cause of the incident.
Police say there has been a spike of incidents of suicide both in civilians and uniformed officers, which is alarming.
A report by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations says at least 500 people have committed suicide in separate incidents in three months (March-June) in the country.
The report added some 409 people were seriously assaulted during the same period, between March and June.
The country has also witnessed an increase in intimate partner killings and family-based crimes partly due to the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic and mental health issues.
The data released by the DCI indicated that men were more prone to committing suicide than women.
According to the data, Kiambu tops the list with the highest number of suicides, 109 cases and the youngest person reported to have committed suicide was nine years while the oldest was 76 years old.
The central region led with 181 cases followed by Rift Valley (68), Nyanza (67), Nairobi (64), Eastern (57), Western (29), Coast (14), and North Eastern (3)Muranga county came second after Kiambu with 37 cases followed by Kisii (25), Kakamega (24), Nyeri (21), Kisumu (21), Embu (20) Uasin Gishu (18).
Nakuru, Makueni and Bomet recorded 17 cases each.
Others were Kericho (16), Nyandarua (14), Machakos (14), Narok (9), Meru (6), Mombasa (5) Busia (4), Laikipia (4), Taita Taveta (3), Wajir (3), Homabay (2), and Kwale (2).
Lamu, Bungoma, Siaya, Nakuru, Trans Nzoia and Tana River recorded one case each while the remaining counties did not record any case of suicide during the same period.
Experts say more women are likely to try to kill themselves but male suicide methods are often more violent, making them more likely to be completed before an intervention.
Men are also conditioned by society not to speak out or even cry, but with increased awareness, health experts say the trend can be reversed.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) says such cases are attributed to joblessness, the breakup of relationships or a death, academic failures or pressures, legal difficulties, financial difficulties, bullying, previous suicide attempts, history of suicide in a family, alcoholism and substance misuse, depression and bipolar disorder.
WHO also rates suicide as a serious global public health issue that is among the top 20 leading causes of death worldwide.
Globally, close to 800,000 people die of suicide every year with an estimated 78 per cent of cases occurring in low- and middle-income countries.
Kenya ranks position 114 among the 175 countries with the highest suicide rates.
Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe has since said the country is in the process of putting up a National Suicide Prevention Strategy and Programme (2021-2026), in line with the WHO guidelines.
A task force on mental health established Kenya has a high burden of mental illness due to ill health, psychosocial disability and premature mortality with huge gaps in access to care.
The team found out that the majority of populations in Kenya associate mental health and mental illness with negative narratives leading to a low focus on the importance and benefits of mental health and well being.
The team also recommended that mental illness be declared a national emergency of epidemic proportions, to prioritize mental health as a priority public health and socioeconomic agenda.
It recommended that mental health be provided with adequate financing in line with international best practice
In Kenya, it is estimated that one in every 10 people suffer from a common mental disorder.
The number increases to one in every four people among patients attending routine outpatient services.
Edited by D Tarus