Ms Fauzia Kamto follows proceedings during the reading of a ruling at Shanzu Law Courts in Mombasa on November 30, 2023.
Even before he was gunned down in the early hours of December 12, 2018, Kenneth Mwakombo Kamto, the first deputy governor of Kilifi county, was a marked man, perhaps already living on borrowed time.
As it now emerges, Kamto had harboured fears for his life long before his murder.
Speaking for the first time since her husband’s killing more than seven years ago, and the subsequent jailing of those implicated in his murder, Fawzia Dear Omar painted a chilling portrait of a man who had grown increasingly paranoid.
"Yes, I would say he was a marked man," says Ms Omar, a banker who quit the profession last year.
During Kamto’s burial in Rabai, leaders declared that his killing was not the result of a random robbery but a well-planned execution.
Ms Omar recalled an incident in October 2018 that left them both shaken. A group of men attempted to abduct Kamto, trying to force him into the boot of a double cabin vehicle.
"He fought them off and raised the alarm. Fortunately, people nearby responded and rescued him. He later reported the matter at Kilifi Police Station and the suspects were arrested, although I am not sure how the case proceeded," she said.
Kamto narrowly escaped another attack when he and four others were accosted at night by unidentified men.
Kenneth Kamto speaks during a political rally Kilifi County on May 26, 2017.
"Those men said, 'Here is Kamto, beat him!' But luckily, he was not hurt, as they did not properly identify him in the darkness. He always shared everything with me, good or bad. He never kept anything from me," she says.
She disclosed that many things had happened to her husband before he was eventually killed, and that only divine protection had kept him alive until the fateful day.
In another disturbing episode, Ms Omar recounted how Kamto returned home visibly shaken after briefly stepping out during a meeting, leaving behind a glass of juice.
"He took a sip then began sweating profusely and rushed home. We insisted he seek immediate medical attention," she said.
These incidents, she explained, deeply disturbed Kamto. She believes the attack that claimed his life was far from random. She suspects the gunmen had closely monitored his movements and knew he usually arrived home around 3 am.
"They knew when he got home. To me, it did not seem like a random robbery," she claimed.
Ms Omar also recounted being the victim of a separate robbery while her husband was away. Intruders attacked her and stole valuables, including her ring.
"I no longer wear a ring. The robbers came, attacked me, and took it away. I was terrified," she said.
She believes these incidents were part of a broader pattern, clear signs that her husband had become a target.
Fawzia Dear Omar, the widow of slain former Kilifi Deputy governor Kenneth Kamto who was shot dead on December 12, 2018 at his Nyali residence.
A day before his murder, Kamto had driven his wife to work and picked her up in the evening. After his murder, the widow lamented that there had been attempts to link her to his death.
"I would have been arrested were it not for the officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations who insisted on being given time to thoroughly investigate the matter," she said.
The events of December 12, 2018, remain vivid in her mind. She had dozed off while watching television at their home. Between 3 am and 4 am, she was woken by her husband’s voice calling out and saying there were thieves in the house.
"I went towards the sitting room where I heard his voice calling. I could see someone standing behind the door, although it was dark," she recalled.
She then heard a gunshot and rushed to a room near the kitchen where the house help and her mother-in-law were. The attackers fired at her three times, but luckily, the bullets missed.
Carefully planned execution
"While we were in the room, they entered and ordered us to switch on the lights. The intruders led us to the sitting room. That is when I saw my husband lying on the floor, groaning," she said, struggling to hold back tears.
One of the attackers, wearing a ski mask and armed with a gun, ordered her to hand over money while striking her on the back with the weapon. More attackers came down from the upper rooms.
They refused to listen when told there was no money. Instead, they mocked them questioning why they lived in Nyali if they could not afford to give them anything.
The gunmen then drank all the sodas, asked for the car keys and left.
"I went outside a short while later and found the car doors and boot open. I couldn’t find the ignition key," she recalled.
Her mobile phone and gate keys were missing. She jumped over the gate and left the compound.
Outside, she met a boda boda rider and asked to be taken to Nyali Police Station. Unknown to her at the time, she would later learn that the same boda boda rider had dropped off the attackers in the area before they struck.
She reported the attack at the station and officers accompanied her back to the house.
"The officers informed me that my husband was dead before taking the body away. That is when it truly dawned on me that I had lost my husband," she said.
The couple’s first daughter, Dr Kabeyu Kamto, was at the time preparing for her examinations in China, where she and her siblings were studying.
"The news broke my heart. The emotion took a toll on me, but I had to push myself to excel in my exams so as not to disappoint my family," she said.
In January 2019, police informed Ms Omar that stolen items from her home, including a Techno tablet and three phones belonging to her late husband and the house help, had been recovered.
Weeks after the fatal shooting, Julius Gitonga, Joseph Mukabana, Florence Mwanza, Joseph Choge, Clementina Nerima and Muasya Kiteme alias Mwaa were arrested.
Deputy President William Ruto signs the condolence book when he consoled the family of the former Deputy Governor of Kilifi the Late Kenneth Kamto at Rabai in Kilifi County for the burial in this photo taken on 19th December 2018.
Photo by Kevin Odit.
It was Uchi’s mobile phone that led to their arrest. They were charged with robbery with violence leading to Kamto’s death and handling stolen property.
Gitonga and Mwanza faced additional charges of possessing a gun with 18 bullets, without a valid firearm certificate. However, the prosecution portrayed the incident as a random robbery rather than a carefully planned execution.
The 24 prosecution witnesses, under state counsel Ngina Mutua, told the court how the robbery was planned and executed.
Kiteme, one of the accused, was the key witness. He admitted to helping plan the robbery. He told Senior Principal Magistrate Yusuf Shikanda that he met Mukabana in 2016 at Kongowea Market, where he sold clothes.
On December 10, 2018, Mukabana invited him to join in house-breaking and introduced him to Gitonga.
That evening, the three met to carry out the robbery, but Kiteme backed out. They regrouped the next night at 1 am and headed to Nyali. Gitonga was armed.
The murder weapon
They had initially targeted an Indian’s house but changed their minds after sensing it had a security alarm. As they left, they saw a car entering a compound and followed it in. Gitonga fired at the door, shot twice and led them inside.
"I saw the man who had driven the vehicle lying on his stomach," Kiteme said. Gitonga ordered them to ransack the house. They stole Sh9,000 and several phones. Kiteme and Mukabana each got Sh3000 and fled on a motorbike called by Mukabana.
The next day, Kiteme travelled to Mwingi. Two weeks later, Mukabana informed him that the man Gitonga shot was Kilifi’s former deputy governor.
A boda boda rider, who said Mukabana was both a relative and customer, testified he dropped the trio at Mbuni Road on December 11.
At 4 am, he was called to pick them up but instead found a distressed woman whose husband had been shot. He took her to the police, returned, picked up the intruders, was paid Sh200, and given a stolen phone, which he later sold to Choge.
A phone stolen from Ms Uchi played a key role in the investigation. Chief Inspector Raphael Wanjohi and Ventah Andayi traced its IMEI and SIM activity, leading to the arrest of Nerima, then Choge. Mukabana was later linked through call records connecting him to Choge.
The same call logs led to the arrest of Gitonga and Mwanza at their house in Kwa Bullo, where police recovered the murder weapon.
The gun had been stolen during an earlier robbery in Mombasa. Forensic analysis confirmed that the bullet recovered from Kamto’s body and the cartridge found at the scene matched the weapon.
Call data from December 6, 2018, to January 16, 2019, showed communication among Gitonga, Mukabana, and Kiteme during the planning and execution. Kiteme accepted a plea bargain, turned state witness, and is now serving a 15-year sentence.
Choge and Nerima were acquitted for lack of evidence. Mr Shikanda ruled that digital forensics, CCTV footage, and 24 witness testimonies proved the case.
Gitonga and Mukabana were sentenced to 40 and 30 years respectively.
Ms Omar welcomed the sentencing but questioned the fate of the masterminds.
"Those who killed my husband were jailed, but what about those who gave them the contract? Of course, those who have been jailed cannot talk, maybe because of the benefits they received," she said.
