The portrait of Elijah Matoke Maina who was doused with acid at his home in Kaptembwa, Nakuru County on December 11, 2024.
On Thursday December 5, 2024, Claris Mghoi had no idea her life was about to change forever when her phone rang.
It was her uncle on the other end, urging her to rush from her workplace in Kericho to Nakuru.
“He just said my father wasn’t feeling well and that I needed to come immediately. He didn’t tell me what had happened and offered few details, leaving me grappling with fear and uncertainty,” Ms Mghoi told Nation.Africa.
Claris Mghoi Matoke (centre), the daughter of the late Elijah Matoke Maina, is comforted by her relatives at their home in Kaptembwa, Nakuru County on December 12, 2024.
Arriving in Nakuru later that day, she went straight to her father's house on the Kaptembwa estate, where he had lived with his second wife for six years.
But the scene she encountered was disturbing. There was overturned furniture, scattered objects and a burnt blanket in the living room.
“What I saw in the house left me speechless, things were just scattered all over. I tried asking neighbours but no one was telling me anything satisfactory. At the Nakuru Teaching and Referral Hospital is where I came face to face with reality; my father was badly burnt, he was in pain,” she recalled in an interview with Nation.Africa on Thursday.
Her father, 52-year-old Elijah Matoke Maina, lay in excruciating pain, his body covered in acid burns. He succumbed to his injuries five days later, leaving his family devastated and demanding justice.
In his final days, Mr Matoke confided in his daughter about the harrowing events of that fateful night.
According to Ms Mghoi, who recorded the conversation, her father described how his wife woke up at around 3am and began rummaging through boxes under their bed.
“She was looking for something, but he said he didn't think much of it,” she says.
Relatives of the late Elijah Matoke Maina at his home in Kaptembwa, Nakuru County, on December 12, 2024.
In her statement to the police, Ms Mghoi alleged that the wife left the house and returned with a five-litre container. He assumed it was water, but it turned out to be acid, which she allegedly poured on him.
“He said the pain was unbearable,” Ms Mghoi said.
His screams woke up their younger children who rushed to see what had happened. Neighbours were also alerted by the commotion and helped rush Mr Matoke to hospital.
Meanwhile, the woman disappeared from the scene, only to reappear later with burns on her hands.
Ms Mghoi said her father's second marriage had been strained for years. After separating from her mother in 2012, Mr Matoke remarried and moved to Nakuru. She said at the time, her father asked her to travel from Kericho and, after an introduction, told her he wanted to remarry, a decision she did not oppose.
Despite the tensions, Mr Matoke tried to keep the marriage intact.
“He was my best friend, a fighter. He was not a violent man, he was loved by people and didn’t deserve this. We had so many plans with my father. We plead with police to conduct speedy investigation so that my father can get justice and rest in peace,” she said.
Mr Matoke's brother, Bernard Angwenyi, said the couple's relationship was fraught with conflict that sometimes turned violent.
According to him, he was with his brother for most of the Wednesday before the incident, but his brother did not disclose whether there was a problem at home. He told him that his wife was ill and that he had even gone to a chemist to buy medicine for her.
Neighbours at the home of the late Elijah Matoke Maina in Kaptembwa, Nakuru County, on December 12, 2024.
He said he dropped Mr Matoke off at home after their errands and the two agreed to meet the following day. He called at 10pm to check that he had arrived home safely and to remind him of their meeting.
However, he was shocked to receive a phone call the next morning telling him to go to hospital.
Mr Angwenyi believes the attack was premeditated.
Area Assistant Chief Vincent Siro said police recovered a burnt mattress and blanket from the house. A container with traces of acid was found abandoned at a nearby farm.
The suspect was arrested after she went to Kaptembwa police station to report the incident. Her son was later arrested while allegedly disposing of the container.
Nakuru West Sub-County Directorate of Criminal Investigations officer Charles Kamau confirmed that the suspects were in custody.
“We initially prepared charges of grievous harm but following the victim’s death, we are now pursuing murder charges,” Mr Kamau said.
The suspects were brought to court under a miscellaneous application and investigators were given 10 days to complete their investigations.
