A Nairobi City County enforcement officer who plunged to his death from the sixth floor of City Hall Annex in May was under interrogation for extortion, the County Assembly has revealed.
Further, newly tabled documents before the Assembly explain that Oscar Mungai Kanyi was not supposed to be on duty that day. He was officially on leave and was expected to report back to work on June 10, 2025.
However, on May 31, he appeared in full uniform along Kimathi Street, near Nation Centre – an area notorious for complaints of harassment and extortion by the county’s inspectorate officers. It is then that he was arrested.
According to records presented before the Assembly’s Justice and Legal Affairs Committee (JLAC), chaired by Mugumoini MCA Jared Akama, Mr Mungai had been spotted with a member of the public, identified as Joseph Muchiri, while allegedly soliciting bribes from motorists.
He was employed as a county constable and had been deployed at Kasarani Sub-County. It's not clear how he ended up in the city centre that day.
City Hall Annexe in Nairobi.
Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation Media Group
City Hall investigators, acting on a tip-off, moved in, arrested the officer and escorted him to City Hall Annex for questioning. It was during this interrogation – on the sixth floor of the same building that houses the governor’s office – that Mr Mungai allegedly made a desperate attempt to flee.
“The deceased was in full County Inspectorate uniform despite being on leave. Upon arrest, the two suspects were escorted to City Hall Annex 6th floor for questioning. It is when he jumped through the window,” reads the investigative report.
Footage circulating on social media shows the officer’s final moments. He is seen jumping from a window on the the sixth floor, narrowly misses the second floor and ends up on the ground floor. Images from the scene show his body lying on the pavement outside City Hall, draped in a red cloth as shocked onlookers and police officers mill around.
Circumstances still vague
The Acting Head of the Inspectorate Department, Eva Wangechi Wairiuko, was put on the spot regarding circumstances surrounding his death.
“Was he under torture when he threw himself? Was he escaping danger that lay ahead of him or what was happening? This is what we want to understand and only those who were involved in the interrogation can provide such information,” Mr Akama, the committee chair, said.
Ms Wangeci, however, noted that most inspectorate officers are facing mental health challenges, adding that the county government has put in place structures to provide counselling services.
“These officers are facing challenges due to the pressure from work and their interactions with the public. Some have been assaulted, making their work difficult,” she told the committee.
The JLAC team is examining how an officer who was on leave ended up in the Nairobi CBD in uniform. It's also looking into why he was being questioned in the absence of his supervisors and whether due process was followed.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations is currently handling the official probe into the incident.
Corruption and abuse of power at City Hall
The newly surfaced details have brought to the spotlight a deeper institutional problem within Nairobi’s enforcement unit, long accused of corruption and abuse of power.
Separately, City Hall is investigating five similar cases of extortion reported by members of the public in recent weeks. According to a briefing submitted to JLAC, the county has received a string of complaints touching on impersonation of 'kanjo' and possible collusion between rogue officials and civilians with the aim of extorting money from unsuspecting residents and traders in the Nairobi CBD.
“The perpetrators, some dressed in official inspectorate uniform, have been soliciting bribes from under the pretext of enforcing county by-laws,” City Hall said in its report.
For instance, a case filed by Samuel Momanyi in May this year says that two individuals – one wearing County Inspectorate uniform – extorted Sh6,000 from him along Muindi Mbingu Street.
County investigators said the case remains under active review as part of a wider internal probe into misconduct at the enforcement unit.
