A Congolese man who murdered a Kenyan advocate five years ago has been sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Christian Baldei Kadima alias Erick Kambaye Katalayi, 41, was imprisoned by High Court judge Francis Olel who said the sentence should act as a deterrent given the rising cases of gender-based violence.
The Congolese, who is also a South African passport holder, was found guilty of murdering Elizabeth Koki Musyoki, an offence he committed on the night of January 7, 2021.
The two were lovers and the court said the evidence tabled before court against Kadima was largely circumstantial, as he was the last person to be seen alive with her.
Justice Olel also said there was evidence of a commotion in the bedroom before Kadima left the house in Syokimau in a hurry, only for Koki’s body to be discovered lifeless the next morning.
“I have also considered the circumstances under which the offence was committed and take judicial notice of increase cases of gender based violence. A deterrent sentence must be handed down to discourage other would be offenders and restore public order. I do hereby sentence the accused to serve 40 years imprisonment from January 8, 2021 when he was arrested,” said the judge.
A post-mortem report tabled in court showed that Koki was suffocated to death using a pillow. After the incident, Kadima booked a ticket to Uganda, as he planned to escape, but was arrested by police before he left the country.
Lawyer Elizabeth Koki who was killed at her home in Syokimau, Machakos County.
Photo credit: Pool
Koki’s father David Musyoki had pleaded with the court to hand Kadima a custodial sentence saying he took away his daughter’s life. He added that the Congolese was not remorseful and had tried fleeing the country to evade justice.
Mr Musyoki said his 34-year-old daughter was running a successful law firm but her life was cut short leaving behind to young children.
Koki’s sister, Agnes also called for a custodial sentence saying the Congolese was a manipulative and dangerous person.
Before he was sentenced, Kadima apologised to Koki’s family and pleaded for non-custodial sentence saying he had learnt valuable lessons and skills while in remand. He said he had studied diploma in theology, leadership.
Evidence table in court showed that Kadima murdered Koki on January 7, 2021 at Ferndale Court in Syokimau in Machakos County.
Koki’s house help Grace Ndanu recalled hearing noises coming from her bedroom on the fateful night, before Kadima left the house.
In the morning, one of Koki’s boys went to bid bye to his mother as he headed to school but she was unresponsive.
Ms Ndanu then assured the boy that his mum was asleep and they would meet after school. After the child left for school, Ndanu called Agnes and told her telling her that about her sister being unresponsive.
The police were later called and it was discovered that she was already dead. The police then started pursuing Kadima.
Mr Edwin Khamasi Esasa, a bouncer and who was Kadima’s friend recalled that the Congolese called him before they met in one of the clubs on Ngong Road.
Later, Kadima allegedly informed him that they had differed with his girlfriend (Koki) over messages she had seen on his mobile phone.
Mr Esasa said another Congolese sent him Sh55,000 for him to get travel documents on behalf of Kadima. Kadima also gave him a SIM card to dispose but he allegedly refused, before he (Kadima) threw two SIM cards somewhere in Ruiru.
The witness said they were arrested on January 8 from a guest house in Ruiru where Kadima had checked in with another woman.
The prosecution told the court that Kadima was also wanted in South Africa for domestic violence and one of his former girlfriends (a Kenyan) testified that they fell out after two years of relationship, because of his violent nature.
The Milimani Law Courts in Nairobi.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
In his defence, Kadima said he was ‘fixed’ because he was a foreigner. He said he visited Koki on the fateful night and left the house after about 30 minutes. He claimed that she was suffering from Covid-19.
“The prosecution evidence adduced when looked at in totality leads to the inescapable conclusion that it was the accused person who was last seen with the deceased and was in the process of escaping from the country under a disguised name,” said the judge.
Justice Olel said Kadima should be held responsible for the death of Koki unless he provided cogent explanation to exonerate himself from the accusation of having a hand in her death.
The judge added that the prosecution unequivocally proved that Kadima “had engaged the flight mode gear” as he planned to run away “from his indiscretions”.
“From the analysis, it is clear that the accused did not have any other intention but to inflict grievous harm upon the deceased. It is my finding that the accused person knew or ought to have known that his action would result in death and it can be safely inferred from the nature of injury inflicted on the deceased that the accused person’s action was premeditated,” said the judge.
