Mwenda Mbijiwe’s movements revealed by car hire tracking devices

A white Toyota Fielder which Mr Mwenda Mbijiwe was using before he disappeared in 2021 had been in Kitale, Trans Nzoia County for days, it has now emerged.

The fresh details have emerged following a series of interviews with his friends and the management of Nyandoro Safaris, a company which Mr Mbijiwe used to hire vehicles from. 

The Nation has established that in early May 2021, the security expert approached Mr Roy Nyandoro who is the CEO of Nyandoro Safaris and hired the motor vehicle of registration number KCP 841H.

Mr Nyandoro told Nation that Mr Mbijiwe had hired the car for a month but never disclosed where he was going.

He also promised that he would pay later but went missing while owing the company Sh100,000.

Days after he hired the vehicle, the owner could track it to Kitale in Trans Nzoia County and whenever he reached out to him asking for money, he assured him that he would pay.

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“I kept on calling him and even at some point I threatened to switch off the car because he was not paying but he promised that he would do so. Sadly, this never happened,” Mr Nyandoro recalled.

But what mission could have taken Mr Mbijiwe to Kitale which is the home of his close friend Mr Mathew Muhatia Namasaka, who went missing alongside the security expert?

Take supper

A close friend who spoke to this reporter on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the matter said that the duo would only arrive at the home of Mr Namasaka –who is still facing a robbery with violence case in a Nairobi court-- during the night, have a meal and leave.

“They only arrived at night to take supper and leave their mission remained a mystery and to date, we never know what they were up to,” the friend, who travelled with them at some point told the Nation.

The vehicle, according to the car hiring company, had been to Kisumu County and parts of Western, Kenya.

Mr Nyandoro, was, however, elated on June 7, 2021, when he noticed from his tracking device that the vehicle, which he felt had overstayed in the Western region was finally on its way to Nairobi.

He decided not to bother the security analyst hoping that he would eventually arrive and foot the bill.

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Interestingly, this never happened and instead, the vehicle made an abrupt stop at Mahi Mahiu in Nakuru County.

Mr Nyandoro then again tried to reach Mr Mbijiwe and this time he was unavailable on call but could respond to WhatsApp messages.

“From the day the car stopped outside a primary school in Mahi Mahiu, Mr Mbijiwe could not be found on call but on WhatsApp. His reply was always that he will send me the money,” he said.

Interestingly, since June 7, 2021, the vehicle never moved an inch from where it had been parked and all that time the response from Mr Mbijiwe was the same that he would send him the money.

Meanwhile, Mr Mbijiwe had made his way to the city alongside his friend Mr Namasaka because, on June 11, 2021, he was a guest at the latter’s home in Congo, Kawangware in Nairobi County.

This was confirmed by Ms Cynthia Salome who is the wife of Mr Namasaka, who said that on that day they spoke for some time but she never bothered to listen to their talk.

However, when Mr Mbijiwe, a security analyst was leaving, he promised her that he would take her family to Dubai alongside his in December 2021.

On the morning of June 12, 2021, Mr Mbijiwe and Mr Namasaka left for an unknown destination and on that day, the latter, according to Ms Salome, even made a word of prayer before leaving his home.

Last day

That was the last day Mr Namasaka was seen by his wife.

It is on the same day that police officers at the Tigoni Police station, where the car which had been abandoned in Mai Mahiu had been towed to, reached out to Mr Nyandoro and summoned him to the police station.

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“The officers at Tigoni police station found my contact card inside the vehicle and reached out to me. I was summoned to explain myself,” he said.

It is then that a decision was made that the vehicle is towed to Central police station in Nairobi because it is there where a report of a missing person was made for further investigations.

Meanwhile, it remains unclear where Mr Mbijiwe and Mr Namasaka were heading but the security analyst had reached out to his family in Meru County asking his mother to prepare mukimo for him.

It has now emerged that the vehicle they were using from Kawangware, which was different from the one left in Mahi Mahiu, was a white Toyota Fielder.

The second car was found abandoned in a coffee plantation in Kamiti Corner near Tatu City and had been hired to Mr Mbijiwe by businessman Mr Edward Mwangi.

Mr Mwangi, in his statement to the police at Central Police Station in Nairobi, said that the security expert owed him Sh24,500 after he paid Sh49,000.

On the day the vehicle was found, Mr Mbijiwe had reached out to him in the wee hours of the morning requesting an extension of using the motor vehicle saying he needed to rush to Meru County where he was to visit a sick relative.

Mr Mwangi rushed to where his car was and found that the doors had been vandalised, keys missing and the radiator plugged off.

It is then that he tried to reach out to Mr Mbijiwe but he was unresponsive before his phone finally went off to this day.