On the night of June 3, 2021, Dutch businessman Herman Rouwenhorst went to bed as usual at his Roco Apartments home in Shanzu, Mombasa County, full of hope for a better tomorrow.
Unbeknown to him, the plan to eliminate him had already been finalised, with one of the scheme's facilitators, Mary Nekesa, already inside the compound in an unoccupied apartment.
She was ushered into this room by Rouwenhorst’s widow Riziki Cherono Ali, the prime suspect in the Dutchman’s murder.
Her role was to wait until the dead of the night to let hired hit men into the compound to finish the job.
These are the details that were presented before Mombasa High Court judge Anne Ong’injo, who is handling the trial of Ms Cherono over the murder of her Dutch husband.
Ms Nekesa, was charged alongside Ms Cherono, Mr Timothy Omondi Ngowe alias Rashid alias Tony Ochieng alias Mohamed Khalid. They allegedly killed Rouwenhorst and a security guard, Evans Pole Bokoro, on June 4, 2021.
However, Ms Nekesa signed a plea deal with the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) and is now a State witness, with her charge downgraded to manslaughter.
On Monday, Nekesa pleaded guilty to manslaughter for the deaths of Rouwenhorst and Bokoro.
She had confessed about how the murder was planned, executed, and how the was money shared and evidence concealed. She is awaiting sentencing and will also testify against the other accused persons. The prosecution told the court that Nekesa was not new to Rouwenhorst’s house, having previously worked at Roco Apartments as a manager and also done some business with Cherono.
The two were close confidants. Court records further show that it was Nekesa who introduced Cherono to Omondi, and the pair would occasionally hang out together.
In one of their outings, in May 2021, Cherono allegedly told Nekesa of her intention to kill Rouwenhorst and Mr Omondi was the man to execute the murder.
The State alleges that Nekesa facilitated communication between Cherono and Omondi for planning purposes. According to the prosecution, on June 3, 2021, Cherono facilitated Nekesa to hide in apartment number 9, which was vacant at the time.
“At around 2am on June 4, Nekesa helped Omondi gain entry into the compound,” said State Counsel Bernard Ngiri.
Nekesa allegedly told Bokoro, the guard, that Omondi was her guest. Nekesa and Omondi allegedly proceeded to the vacant room, where they planned to lace meat with poison which would be fed to the security dogs to impair them. The meat was allegedly provided by Cherono. T
“About 45 minutes later, Omondi called Nekesa who went out and found Bokoro lying down and tied with a rope.
He was groaning in pain. Omondi was in the company of two other men,” the prosecutor told the court.
From here, it is alleged that the three men proceeded to Rouwenhorst’s room and killed him. The court also heard that an analysis of call data placed Nekesa at the scene and that she was in constant communication with Cherono and Omondi.
“A phone recovered from the suspects showed text communication detailing plans by Nekesa and Omondi to commit the murder,” said the prosecutor.
Court records show that Nekesa coordinated the killings from the vacant room within the apartment building.
The investigators have also said that Nekesa had a key, with which she opened the gate and let in Omondi and his accomplices. These details were read out despite protests by the defence, who felt that Cherono and Omondi’s names should not be mentioned.
Led by lawyer Jared Magolo, the defence proposed that the prosecution should just say others where the names of his clients are mentioned.
“The plea bargain agreement is between the State and Ms Nekesa, not my clients. We are of the opinion that their names be left out,” said Mr Magolo. But the State counsel wondered how this would be possible, saying, the defence will have time to interrogate Nekesa when she takes the witness stand.
Justice Ong'injo also wondered how Mr Magolo's suggestions would be executed, and asked the prosecution to submit the facts as they are, stressing that she did not want to leave gaps in the proceedings by adopting the shortcut that was being recommended.
