Official records show that Kithuka Kimunyi was loitering around State House, Nairobi, yesterday when he shot General Service Unit officer Ramadhan Hamisi Matanka with an arrow on the left side of his chest.
But hours after Matanka’s death, multiple police sources with access to CCTV footage that captured the incident told the Nation that Kimunyi and Matanka may have been well acquainted.
For 17 minutes, 56-year-old Kimunyi and Matanka were deep in conversation at the screening area of State House’s Gate D, an entrance usually reserved for the president’s designated staff and visitors.
Clad in a grey pair of trousers and a Maasai shuka across his upper body, Kimunyi strolled into the security booth at Gate D at 7.58am, holding a gunny bag with assorted items.
That only security personnel, staff and the president’s invited guests are allowed to get that close to any State House entrance is among the factors investigators have considered in putting together a theory that Kimunyi may have been well-known to Matanka and, possibly, other guards at the gate.
Kithuka Kimunyi, a man suspected of killing a GSU officer, is help on October 13, 2025 at Kilimani Police Station.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group
CCTV footage reviewed by investigators may not reveal the subject of the 17-minute exchange between Kimunyi and Matanka, but it corroborates a critical theory at this stage of the murder probe—the two may have been bosom buddies who either fell out on account of the conversation, or a deal gone sour.
Those are the two key theories investigators are following, as the footage and preliminary scrutiny of Matanka’s mobile phone indicate that he has, in the past, met Kimunyi at the different State House entrances. The two usually met at the gate Matanka was assigned to.
“The officer (Matanka) did not appear apprehensive even as the suspect approached him,” a police officer familiar with the probe told the Nation.
At 8.10am, Kimunyi whipped out a bow and arrow from a sack he was carrying, and went for the left side of Matanka’s chest with force and precision.
Whether by luck or design, Kimunyi’s strike was at a moment that no other security personnel could intervene—the other two GSU officers manning the gate were searching a car.
The CCTV footage shows Matanka falling to the ground, writhing in pain, and his colleagues rushing to aid him. He was rushed to the Kenyatta National Hospital. He succumbed to the injury while being attended to at the hospital’s emergency bay.
Just like that, the GSU’s Company G, which was deployed to guard State House entrances barely three months ago, lost a team member. And Hassan Dabie Mattiaka lost his only child.
Kimunyi allegedly attempted to flee the scene, but another GSU officer gave chase and caught him. At the time of going to press, Kimunyi had been taken to an undisclosed facility for a mental assessment.
Kithuka Kimunyi, a man suspected of killing a GSU officer, is help on October 13, 2025 at Kilimani Police Station.
Photo credit: Billy Ogada | Nation Media Group
According to Kilimani Divisional Criminal Investigation Officer Mahat Hassan, Kimunyi was loitering in the State House area, and that Matanka approached him out of curiosity. The Kilimani Police Station detective’s statement was in line with the official incident report, but differed with what two investigators separately told the Nation—that the assailant had shot his victim with an arrow.
“Unknown assailant advanced to officers manning the entrance to a protected government facility as two officers searched motor vehicles. He (assailant) drew a bow with an arrow and stabbed PC Ramadhan Khamisi Matanka on the left side of the chest, bleeding profusely. He was subdued, and the injured officer rushed to KNH in a critical condition but succumbed to the injuries while being attended to at the emergency bay,” the incident report at Kilimani Police Station by GSU officer Daniel Kemboi reads.
Matanka’s family on Monday heeded a police request to postpone his internment. In line with Islamic practices, Matanka’s family wanted to bury him before sunset, but police requested that the burial be briefly suspended to allow for a post-mortem examination this morning.
Detectives from the DCI’s Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau were yesterday invited to help investigate the murder.
The officers reviewed CCTV footage from the area and also interviewed a colleague who was on duty at the time of the incident.
Inspector-General of Police Douglas Kanja sent a condolence message to Matanka’s family, and commended officers who subdued Kimunyi.
Kanja’s statement also indicated that Kimunyi attacked indiscriminately and refused to surrender upon request by security personnel at the State House entrance.
“The National Police Service condemns this heinous act and commends the officers for their swift response, which prevented further harm. An investigation is ongoing to establish the motive of the attack,” Mr Kanja said.
