He attained the epitome of his academic pursuits to earn the title of a distinguished professor, but died miserably in a tiny bedsitter in Kipawa area of Kamulu on the night of December 10.
This is the story of Zachary Mumbo Mosoti, an associate professor of Management and Human Resource Development at the United States International University (USIU - Africa), whom unknown persons killed.
His half-naked body was found lying on his bed on December 11 by his helper. It had no visible physical injuries.
Besides him were five blue tablets, an insulin pen and a carrier bag containing a woman’s bra and underwear. The shirt he was wearing that day had been soaked in water in a handwashing sink.
Nathan Oburu, an advocate, shows where Prof Mosoti’s body was found in a bedsitter in Kipawa area, Kamulu.
Photo credit: Jeff Angote | Nation Media Group
Bring his killers to book
The initial report filed at Kamulu Police Station indicated his cause of death as natural, but a post-mortem conducted at the Kenyatta University Funeral Home on December 17 shows the 59-year-old father of four was strangled to death.
“As a result of my examination, I formed the opinion that the cause of death was asphyxia due to neck compression,” the post-mortem findings recorded by Dr Dorothy Njeru state in part. His family is now urging detectives at Ruai Police Station to speed up investigations into his murder and bring his killers to book.
Questions as to why a distinguished professor would opt to rent out a bedsitter just a few kilometres away from his two homes in Ruai Acacia have now raised eye brows with members of his family suspecting that it may provide clues as to the motive of his murder.
A house in Acacia area, Ruai, that belonged to Prof Zachary Mumbo Mosoti.
Photo credit: Jeff Angote | Nation Media Group
The professor separated from his first wife, Ms Gladys Mosoti, in 2019, after cohabiting with a woman who later moved in with him at his matrimonial home in Ruai.
“We got married young in 1995 and stayed together for more than 23 years, but I left the house and land that we had bought and stayed in when the woman showed up in our lives. She was the cause of our separation and she moved in immediately after I left the home,” Gladys recalled.
The couple had been living in a bungalow at Ruai Acacia where their two, now adult sons aged 20 and 24 grew up, but later the don built a mansion for his second wife on the same land. The mansion overlooks the first wife’s house, which Gladys no longer occupies, as she now lives in Komarock. Yesterday, Gladys said she has not been in touch with her husband and was not aware that he had rented a bedsitter in Kamulu.
“The caretaker now says that the woman was mistreating my husband who was sickly,” she added.
Mosoti died a day before he could meet his family to discuss his marital issues, his youngest brother Obed Mosoti told the Nation yesterday.
“I’m still in shock; I’ve not accepted that my brother is gone. We were to discuss his marital issues during a family event, but he died the night before,” he said, adding, he was against his brother separating from his first wife, but he insisted on taking in a second wife.
The professor’s family now says there are strong leads, which, if pursued, would lead to the arrests of the persons behind his killing.
The professor’s cousin, Mr David Angwenyi, said he often talked of lacking peace at home and was even seeking help in pushing the second wife out of his home.
“He had not expressed fears for his life but had hinted to me that he had rented this house because he wasn’t getting peace back at this house. He was diabetic, had online classes and needed a quiet place to work in and this was meant to help him achieve that,” Mr Angwenyi said.
Relatives of Zachary Mumbo Mosoti mourn his death.
Photo credit: Jeff Angote | Nation Media Group
“How other people came to know of this house is still a mystery to us. The neighbours we spoke to said on that fateful evening he had been in the company of two women. They can tell who they were,” said Mr Angwenyi.
Lawyer Nathan Oburu said the family will be turning to private investigators to establish the facts behind the murder before his burial.
