Who killed Olilo in best friend's Diani home, family asks?

Elated that he was about to be the best man at his best friend’s wedding in Diani, Kwale county on November 3 last year, Kennedy Olilo Obura left his Mtwapa home in Kilifi county on November 2 for Kwale.

The 33-year-old called his parents James and Zippora Obura, informing them of his trip.

Nobody knew it will be the last time he will ever talk to them.

Upon arrival at Mvindeni in Diani, he was informed that the wedding had been postponed.

However, his best friend convinced him to stay for the weekend, promising him a good time at the South Coast. After all, he was expected back to work on Monday, November 6.

On Sunday evening, November 5, the dreaded call came at around 3pm, first to his uncle Gilbert Wesonga popularly known as Coach Fabisch.

Olilo had been found lying in a pool of blood in the bathroom of the would-be groom’s house.

The toilet seat had been dismantled and broken and blood splattered everywhere, indicating a vicious fight.

The matter was reported at the Diani police station under OB 35/5/11/23. Then commenced the long, tedious search for the truth and justice.

“My brother-in-law was the first to be informed. They did not want to tell me directly. He told me there was a problem involving Olilo and we needed to rush to Kwale,” said Olilo's father James Obura.

They arrived in Kwale at around 7.30pm and were directed to the house, where police and onlookers were still gathered.

The police were waiting for the family before they could remove the body.

After Obura and Wesonga arrived and due process followed, the body was moved to the Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital on request from Obura.

A postmortem conducted on November 8 indicated that Olilo had died from excessive bleeding from deep cuts in the hands and chest, and a brain haemorrhage following a blow from a blunt object.

“Some blood and body samples were taken to the government chemist for further analysis. We are yet to know the results of the analysis,” Obura said.

On November 11, the family went back to Diani for further enquiry but, they were given unsatisfactory answers.

“It is there that we found out that my son, his best friend and would-be bride had planned to fly to Maasai Mara on the very Sunday he died,” Obura said, tears lingering in his eyes.

They decided to escalate the matter to the Regional DCI office in Mombasa, which took over the case.

However, unsatisfied with the pace of investigations, they later escalated the mater even further and this time went to the Director of Homicide in Nairobi, who assigned three officers to the case.

It is then that they were satisfied with the progress.

“All this while, no one had been arrested,” Obura said.

He said the suspect called Olilo’s friends asking for the password to his phone.

“This was strange to us and we informed the Nairobi detectives of this. They too were surprised,” Obura said at the Muslims for Human Rights Legal Aid clinic in Kizingo.

On March 5, to their surprise, Olilo, who had been buried in Maseno, Kisumu county on December 2, left the family WhatsApp group.

“This surprised us. First the suspect was asking for the password to my late son’s phone and now he has left the group posthumously? he asked.

The family suspected that someone was tampering with Olilo's phone. They also received calls from friends wondering how Olilo had left other WhatsApp groups.

“We strongly believe the phone has crucial information that the suspect was desperately trying to get rid of. We had the password to the phone but only gave it to the Nairobi detectives,” Obura said.

He said they were later informed that the password was not working.

“We believe something strange is going on and we need to know what it is. My wife has never been the same since the death of our first born. Only the truth and justice will give us closure,” Obura said.

Police at the Coast regional headquarters however called for calm saying homicide investigations are usually complex and sometimes take long.

“We are on it and the truth will be known soon. The family should have trust and patience. Justice will be served,” the police said.

Muhuri rapid response officer Francis Auma described the case as sad.

“It is four months down the line and nobody has been arrested. We don’t know the status of the case and where it has reached,” he said.

Auma said the family needs closure and called on the detectives to speed up probe.

“It is painful, especially for the mother, who we understand is now ailing because of the stress and pressure brought about by the death of her son,”he said.

Auma said Muhuri will be forced to take legal action in a fortnight should the police fail to arrest the suspect.

“We will also organise a big demonstration with the family and the Kwale community to show our dissatisfaction. Then we will file a suit against the police for inaction,” she said.