Gideon Makori (left) and Vinic Kemunto when they appeared in court for the murder of Faith Kemunto in Maosi village, Nyamira County.
A few days before her admission at Machakos University as a first year in September last year, Faith Kemunto, 20, went missing from her parents’ home on July 30, 2025 in Nyamusi village, Ekerenyo in Nyamira County.
Since Kemunto had made her family proud by attaining university entry grade, preparations for her to join other fresh men and women during the September intake were in top gear.
However, all these were put on hold after her body was discovered in a shallow grave next to a road where locals would fetch red clay for the molding of their houses in the neighbouring Maosi village in West Mugirango Constituency.
The main suspect behind Kemunto’s chilling murder was none other than Mr Gideon Makori, 22, her boyfriend since their childhood.
Mr Makori is said to have sent Kemunto’s relatives a text message, revealing where her body had been secretly buried.
Before then, the family had searched for Kemunto’s whereabouts for many days without any trace.
Following that revelation, in the company of officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Kemunto’s family traced the grave and managed to retrieve her body which had started decomposing.
The incident left not only the family in shock but only the country at large.
After Kemunto’s body was exhumed, Mr Makori was later smoked out his hideout in Nairobi’s Huruma Estate and arraigned at Nyamira Law Courts.
He however pleaded not guilty to the murder charges preferred against him and the case is still ongoing in court.
Anguish and despair
With the motive behind the killing yet to be established, six months after her death, Kemunto’s parents are in anguish and despair, saying that the death of their last born child has never been erased from their memories.
Kemunto’s mother Grace Nyaitondi said that ever since her daughter passed away, she has never had any peaceful sleep.
Ms Nyaitondi said that her daughter keeps on appearing in her dreams.
“I have never had enough sleep. Every time I sleep, I keep on seeing my daughter. Her death was a big blow to us and we have never recovered from the loss. She was our only flicker of hope,” Ms Nyaitondi said.
She adds that every time she thinks of her daughter, remembering how soft spoken and full of wisdom she was, she develops goose bumps.
“I have never known what my daughter did to that man to deserve the killing. I would like to hear from him one day on what led him to taking her life,” Ms Nyaitondi said, adding that she stopped using the route where her daughter’s body was discovered.
“The place is just behind our home at the border point between North Mugirango and West Mugirango constituencies. Despite that route being the shortest distance whenever I want to travel to Nyamira Town, I have never used it. I decided to do that to try and forget what happened but up to now, the details of what happened on that fateful day are still fresh in my mind,” Ms Nyaitondi remarked.
Asked on what sentencing would she like Mr Makori to be handed should he be found guilty of her daughter’s murder by the courts, Ms Nyaitondi preferred a life imprisonment.
“I would like him to serve behind bars for the rest of his life. Yes, life imprisonment can do for me. If he can get that sentencing, then I feel my heart would be at peace,” Ms Nyaitondi said.
On his part, Kemunto’s father Charles Obino said he would be satisfied should Mr Makori suffer the same fate that his daughter suffered if found guilty.
“What other punishment can be given to a person who has killed another person to justify that act other than killing that person also? To me that is what I could wish the person who killed my daughter to undergo,” Mr Obino said, adding that his daughter’s death took a great toll on his health.
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