A team of police officers arrived in Busia last Tuesday, hoping that intelligence that had led them there would culminate in the arrest of their colleague Kenneth Kipkemoi Sang.
Investigators say that Sang is the link between a team of police officers who allegedly executed twin assassinations of lawyer Kyalo Mbobu and researcher Victoria Mutiso, whose murders were 10 months apart, and the suspected financiers.
Prominent Nairobi lawyer, Mathew Kyalo Mbobu was shot and killed in his car by an assailant on a motorbike on Magadi Road in Karen.
Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group
Sang, the officer commanding Nderi police post in Kikuyu sub-county, has been at large since Dr Mutiso was shot dead in Nairobi’s Upper Hill area on July 29.
He and 14 other individuals now in custody are believed to have also murdered Mr Mbobu on September 9, 2025.
In Busia, Sang seemingly had information that his colleagues were coming for him. He was not at the house that investigations pointed to as his hideout.
Neither was he at a hotel where intelligence earlier gathered suggested Sang would frequent for meals during the day.
The house police visited is owned by Sang’s relative, who was questioned before being released.
At the time, Sang was still using his known mobile phone number, which helped police track him to Busia. However, he would only switch it on when communicating with specific individuals, some of whom are also suspects in the murders.
Sang had limited contact with family and close friends, which made it difficult for investigators to mine more information on his whereabouts.
On Thursday, police arrested two police officers and two bodaboda riders in connection with Mr Mbobu’s murder.
Questioning and forensic analysis of their phones showed that one of the arrested police officers had been in communication with Sang.
That, and further investigations, have led investigators to believe that Sang may have managed to cross into Tanzania and are now shifting attention to the neighbouring East African country.
Dr Victoria Mutiso, a clinical psychologist who was gunned down in Nairobi. Preliminary findings indicate that she may have been followed from her home.
Since the murder of Dr Mutiso on July 29, Crime Research and Investigations Bureau officers have made numerous visits to places Sang frequented as well as his rural home.
They have also visited several houses the fugitive police officer is believed to have stayed in since Dr Mutiso’s murder.
“He would switch his phone on and off. At times we have noted that he has been using different mobile phones to contact people whom we are now considering persons of interest,” said an investigator familiar with the probe.
The investigators have also enlisted the help of villagers, chief and assistant chief at the rural home of the missing officer.
“We have been to Kitale and Busia, but we are yet to get him,” the investigator added.
The investigators believe Inspector Sang could have sneaked out of the country into Tanzania after he managed to escape the police operation at the Kenya –Uganda border last week.
DCI boss Mohammed Amin, in a statement, revealed that Inspector Sang was tied to the two murders.
At the same time, homicide investigators arrested police constable Julius Cheruiyot, who is said to be the hired gunman in the murder of the lawyer.
From right: Police Constable Collins Kiplangat Bett, Pius Muiru Mbugua and Samuel Karanja Gathoni in court. They are suspects in the fatal shooting that led to the death of Dr Victoria Mutiso.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group
A Ceska pistol that had been issued to the officer on the day the lawyer was shot dead has also been recovered by the police. Ballistic examination of the firearm has confirmed that it is the weapon that was used to kill Mbobu.
Amin said investigations had revealed that the police constable was working under the supervision of Inspector Sang.
“Detectives have also established that Inspector Kenneth Sang, who is currently at large, allegedly coordinated the operation in liaison with Rose Mbithe, who is in police custody in connection with the murder of Dr Victoria Nthenya Mutiso,” said Amin.
“Ballistic examination has since confirmed that the firearm was indeed used in the shooting that claimed the life of lawyer Mbobu”, said the DCI chief.
The investigators are, however, yet to establish the motive behind the killing of the city lawyer.
Last Wednesday, DCI arrested yet another suspect in connection with the murder of Dr Mutiso.
Maritim Kimutai was arrested on Wednesday and presented before a Nairobi court after the Director of Public Prosecutions approved murder charges against him.
Maritim will now be charged alongside Rose Mbithe, her daughter Angela Mulwa, her son Chris Mulwa and Police Constable Elijah Kibelion Kimoi.
The five suspects will appear before the High Court for plea-taking on September 29, 2026, following a directive by Justice Alexander Muteti.
At the time of his arrest, Maritim was at Pangani police station, where he was visiting one of the suspects being detained over the murder of Dr Mutiso.
A team of investigators from the DCI’s Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau and Interpol are currently in Tanzania, where they have extended the search for the missing police inspector.
