The main suspect in the murder of Dr Gershon Mwiti, the founder of the Leadership Institute of Kenya who was found dead on Saturday, was yesterday arrested in Mabatini within Mathare, Nairobi County.
Mr Benard Kioko, who was the last person to interact with Mwiti before he switched off his phone and disappeared, was arrested following an operation that lasted more than 24 hours and conducted by officers drawn from the Crime Research and Intelligence Bureau (CRIB) and police officers from Huruma Police Station.
His wife, Gladys Kathure Mwiti, was concerned that her husband had spent a lot of time outside. When she tried to call him, he did not respond. It is then that she went to the garden and found the body of her husband lying in a pool of blood at their home in Thigiri Ridge, Westlands.
Immediately after Kioko’s arrest, detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations attached to Gigiri Police Station grilled the suspect to find out what led to the death of the scholar who also served in a managerial position at the Methodist Church of Kenya.
“He shall spend his night at the police cells as we go on grilling him before he is arraigned over the murder,” a detective who spoke in confidence as he is not authorised to address the media told the Nation yesterday.
Kioko’s arrest took place on the same day his family and friends were holding their first meeting to plan the scholar’s burial.
“Funeral arrangements and further details will be shared in due course,” said a family member.
The long 24-hour search for the suspect kicked off after Kioko was traced to Mwingi North, Kitui County, before he started engaging the officers in a hide-and-seek game before he boarded a vehicle to Nairobi City.
However, the team of detectives from Gigiri and their colleagues from CRIB traced him heading to Nairobi and on to Mathare.
“He boarded a matatu from Mwingi town which used Thika Road to Nairobi. He then alighted in Mathare and headed straight to where the officers arrested him,” the police source said.
The Nation has established that the deceased had on several occasions said that his life was in danger after receiving threats from people he knew. This matter was reported at the DCI headquarters.
In February 2022, Mwiti, who had served as the first Coordinator and Chairman of the Methodist Church of Kenya Nairobi chapter, claimed that his life and those of others within the leadership of the church were being threatened.
Mwiti will not only be remembered by his relatives and family, but also by members and leaders of the Methodist Church. He is among those who envisioned the formation of the Mount Kenya and the Coastal conferences of the church.
The main reasons that were issued by those who went ahead and created the conferences was that they had issues with how the church resources were being handled.
“We want devolution in the church. We want to appoint our own conference secretary, bishops, and presiding bishop and manage our affairs. We want to be self-governed, self-supporting and self-propagating,” said Bishop Wellington Sanga of the Coastal region.
