The shooting of prominent lawyer Mathew Kyalo Mbobu along Nairobi’s Magadi Road has once again laid bare the city’s growing epidemic of motorbike-hit squads—shadowy killers who strike in traffic, vanish and leave behind unanswered questions.
On Tuesday, lawyer Mbobu became the latest high-profile victim in a string of gangland-style murders executed by criminal motorbike riders or pillion passengers who kill with precision and disappear without a trace.
City Lawyer Kyalo Mbobu was shot dead in Karen by unknown assailants.
Photo credit: Photo | Pool
Mr Mbobu was gunned down five times in his vehicle at around 6:30 pm in what investigators say was a carefully executed attack. Nothing was stolen from him, fueling suspicions that the killing was a targeted hit.
The brutal murder has shocked the country and reignited questions over who ordered his execution and why.
By Wednesday, his city office remained open, but the tense mood was unmistakable as clients were quietly served. No one was willing to publicly discuss the death of the man who also lectured at the University of Nairobi.
Police remained tight-lipped for more than 15 hours before finally issuing a statement confirming that detectives had taken over the probe.
“Immediately the incident was reported, the scene was visited by a team of detectives under the leadership of Nairobi County Region Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) boss Benson Kasyoki,” the DCI said in a statement, pledging to bring the perpetrators to justice and appealing for information from the public.
Charles Ong'ondo Were, MP for Kasipul, was killed at a red light. His killers escaped on a motorcycle.
Photo credit: File | Nation
On September 24, 2024, Mart Networks Director Sagar Panara was attacked by two gunmen on a motorcycle at the gate of his Parklands home in Nairobi. He was alone in the car.
Sagar Panara, 36, who was shot dead by gunmen at Parklands in Nairobi on September 24, 2024.
Photo credit: Pool
In March 2021, Jennifer Wambua , a communications officer at the National Land Commission, was abducted and later found dead in a thicket in Ngong. Wambua had been a key witness in a Sh122.3 million fraud case and had reportedly expressed fears for her life. Her killers were never found.
Former National Lands Commission deputy communications director Jennifer Wambua, who was found murdered and her body dumped in Kajiado County on March 12, 2021.
Photo credit: Pool | Nation Media Group
In February 2023, Mary Lilian Waithera , a staff member at the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF), collapsed and died on Kaunda Street in Nairobi’s CBD.
Initially thought to have died naturally, a postmortem later revealed she had been shot from an elevated angle, the bullet lodging in her lung.
Waithera, a whistleblower in a billion-shilling scandal, had been under investigation herself at the time. Her murder remains unsolved.
Mary Lilian Waithera Gathenya
The killing of Mbobu, against this backdrop of unsolved assassinations, has reignited public fear and put pressure on security agencies to dismantle motorbike gangs that have turned Nairobi’s busy streets into hunting grounds for targeted executions.
Mr Mbobu’s killing happened as a fresh wave of lawlessness is sweeping across the country, as rogue boda boda riders run riot, torching vehicles in acts of mob justice that have left the public alarmed and operators counting heavy losses.
In the past week alone, three shocking incidents have been reported.
Last Sunday, chaos erupted in Makongeni, Thika, after two riders were fatally shot by a Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officer. In retaliation, angry boda boda operators stormed the streets, blocked roads, and set a vehicle belonging to the detective on fire.
In Luanda, Vihiga County, tempers flared after a matatu allegedly knocked down and killed a rider. Fellow boda boda operators descended on the scene and torched the matatu.
A similar attack on the Thika Superhighway saw a Super Metro bus burned after being involved in an accident that killed a rider last week.
The Mass Mobility Operators Association (MMOA) has condemned the violence, describing it as criminal, reckless and a direct threat to the country’s transport system.
“These acts of violence are unacceptable. Destroying vehicles that serve thousands of families and form a vital part of the national transport system is reckless and a blatant assault on the rule of law,” the association’s Secretary General, Wilfred Bosire said.
The association further warned that the boda boda sector’s reputation is being destroyed by rogue elements who hide behind mob justice to commit crime.
The association appealed for calm, discipline and peaceful coexistence among all road users, stressing that Kenya cannot afford to let mob rule replace law and order. It urged the government to act swiftly, arrest perpetrators, and enforce stricter regulations in the boda boda sector to weed out rogue riders.
“No tragedy, however painful, justifies mob justice. The government must act decisively to stop this menace before it spirals completely out of control,” Mr Bosire said.
