Protests erupted in Mweiga, Nyeri County on Thursday, February 25, following an incident where a wealthy businessman in the area is accused of hiring goons to murder his son, Daniel Mwangi, on January 1, 2021.
DCI detectives believe Wang'ondu Kanini hired five goons and paid them a total of Ksh160,000 to neutralise his son.
Father and son are reported to have fallen out over control of the family business - estimated to be worth over Ksh1 billion.
Taking to the streets with placards and twigs, residents in the area demanded that justice be served and requested the court not to issue bail to Kanini.
"We don't have money but we want to request the court to ensure that justice is served. We loved Mwangi so much," a resident Christine Njeri stated.
Other residents backed Njeri saying that Mwangi was a hardworking man who was loved by many in the area.
"It would not be easy to co-exist with the suspects in the same neighbourhood. There might be hostility between the two parties," another resident weighed in.
So far, five suspects including Wang'ondu have been arrested and are set to be arraigned on Friday.
Central Regional Criminal Investigations Officer, guiding a team of DCI officers, arrested the victim’s father’s driver at Githurai following vital clues drawn from the crime scene and forensic-led intelligence.
Upon interrogation, he led officers to Embu at Matakani area where two other suspects were also nabbed.
With further investigations, detectives established that the three long-time friends had been hired by the Mwangi's father following a family feud.
The businessman’s body was found lying in a pool of blood on January 1, 2021 outside his home in Mweiga town.
Nothing was stolen from him or his house, not even his Volkswagen Golf car, beside which he lay beside his lifeless body.
Wang'ondu owns a big ranch in the area and runs several petrol stations in Nyeri.
