On Sunday November 30, 2025 around midnight, Rodgers Maruche’s sister received a call.
A man’s voice on the other end of the line said: “Enda uchukue mzigo yenyu uko Sewerage, tumeacha uko ” (Go and pick your luggage. We have left it at the Sewerage area), before abruptly ending the call.
Davin Maruche’s heart sank. She wondered what kind of “luggage” she was being asked to collect at night.
“Huyo ndugu yako tumemalizia. Enda uko Sewerage mchukue mwili .” (We have finished off your brother. Go pick his body at the Sewerage area.)
Davin Maruche narrates how her brother Rodgers Maruche was murdered in cold blood by suspected members of the notorious Confirm gang in Nakuru's Kwa Rhoda estate on December 2, 2025.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation Media Group
True to the caller’s words, when the family proceeded to the Sewerage area, just a few metres from their parents’ home in Kwa Rhonda estate, in Nakuru County, they found the body of 25-year-old Rodgers.
According to Ms Maruche, her brother had spent the evening at a friend’s house in Kivumbini, estate where he had been living since returning from Kisii County earlier this year.
“Rodgers left Nakuru in 2019 after falling out with a group of close friends he grew up with. The disagreement was never fully resolved. He came back a year ago. We do not understand what happened,” said Ms Maruche.
A portrait of Rodgers Maruche who was murdered in cold blood by suspected gang members in Nakuru City on December 2, 2025.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation Media Group
On the fateful day, around 8pm, neighbours reported hearing commotion outside. Within minutes, they saw a group of men dragging Rodgers from his house to a waiting white car before speeding away.
“I believe it is one of those men who later called to inform me of the murder. We are demanding justice for my brother,” Ms Maruche said.
Some neighbours attempted to follow the vehicle, but the attackers reportedly flattened their motorbike tyres before disappearing into the darkness.
Davin Maruche is overwhelmed by emotions as she narrates how her brother Rodgers Maruche was murdered in cold blood by suspected members of the notorious Confirm gang in Nakuru's Kwa Rhoda estate on December 2, 2025.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation Media Group
The killers then drove to Kwa Rhonda, Rodgers’ neighbourhood, where they murdered him.
“They dragged him like an animal. He was asleep when they came for him. He didn’t even get a chance to defend himself. They stabbed and tortured him. He died a painful death. We found his body soaked in blood, barely recognisable. He was supposed to travel to Kisii next Monday, but now we will be taking his body home,” the tearful sister narrated.
The family reported the matter at Rhonda Police Station and the body was later moved to Nakuru City mortuary.
Recalling her last moments with her brother, Ms Maruche said Rodgers had called her on Sunday morning asking her to meet him in Bondeni, where he was attending football practice. After training, Rodgers told her one of his friends had confiscated his phone the previous day, and he was waiting for them to return it. The two later had lunch together before parting ways.
“I didn’t know that would be the last time I would see my brother alive,” she said.
Rodgers’ mother, Sarah Owendi is yet to come to terms with the loss of her first-born son. She heard the commotion outside her home shortly before her daughter broke the tragic news.
“Rodgers had been trying to rebuild his life since he abandoned crime. While in Kisii, he opened a liquor store and reconnected with family. He used to ferry bananas and sweet potatoes, which I sold here in Nakuru,” she said.
The grieving mother added that the conflict between her son and the suspects dates back to 2019 when he left the gang.
A neighbour confirmed that Rodgers had fully reformed and was focused on rebuilding his life before he was killed.
However, it remains unclear why the killers decided to execute him in cold blood.
According to his mother, Rodgers had returned to Nakuru earlier this year to rebuild his life.
“He came home to start afresh. But instead, he found death. The moment he returned, they started tracking him. The suspects are his childhood friends and before the body was collected, they were all at the scene taking videos, drinking and celebrating my son’s death — and police officers were there,” she claims.
“They even came to my house during preparations for my husband’s burial thinking Rodgers was there. They said they wanted to teach him a lesson,” she said.
Ms Owendi believes police know the suspects, all of whom are well-known in the neighbourhood and allegedly walk freely in Nakuru’s slum areas.
“I want justice for my son. We fear the case may stall unless the public demands answers. My son was killed by Confirm gang members. He mattered. He had a family. He had dreams. He has left behind three young children. They took his phone and still call to threaten us. The police should track them. We want nothing special — just justice,” she said.
Investigations by the Daily Nation have established that Rodgers, a reformed member of the Confirm gang, had long-standing conflicts with one of the suspects — who is believed to have been involved in the murder and who also called the sister that night.
“Rodgers was a former member of the Confirm gang, but he reformed and joined a local football club. He may have been killed by members of the gang,” said a senior Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officer who requested anonymity.
“The DCI has taken up the matter and is working to unravel the circumstances surrounding the murder,” he said.
As the family prepares for burial, they insist they will not rest until the killers are arrested and charged.
Meanwhile, in Kwa Rhonda estate, residents say the murder has left many living in fear, especially because the suspected killers are well known.
They said the murder adds to a worrying trend of revenge attacks targeting reformed youths in slum areas.
“People are afraid to speak. These boys have terrorised the estate before. If the police don’t act, this will happen again. These are not random crimes; they stem from long-standing conflicts that are never addressed. The young men feel they can take the law into their own hands,” said one resident neighbour.
