The office of the director of public Prosecution ODPP has been directed to charge and arraign Vincent Mureithi alias Supuu and Murangiri Kenneth Guantai alias Tali for the offence of murder of Meru Blogger Daniel Bernard Muthiani alias Sniper in December last year.
In a statement by the ODPP, the two will face charges and set to appear before the High Court of Kiambu for murder, contrary to the penal code sections 203 and 204.
What charges will Kawera Mwangaza’s brother face?
The ODPP confirmed it has sufficient evidence to sustain the charges against the two suspects.
“Upon thorough analysis of the facts, the DPP is satisfied that there is sufficient evidence to sustain a charge of murder against Vincent Mureithi alias Supuu and Murangiri Kenneth Guantai alias Tali. Consequently, the DPP has directed that Vincent Mureithi and Kenneth Guantai be arraigned before the High Court at Kiambu for the offence of murder contrary to section 203 as read with section 204 of the penal code forthwith,” read the statement in part.
Press Statement on the Murder of Daniel Muthiani Bernard Alias Sniper. #HakiNaUsawa pic.twitter.com/m6WFNSarG2
— Office of The Director Of Public Prosecutions (@ODPP_KE) January 18, 2024
The Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI), forwarded an inquiry file to the office of the ODPP for perusal and advice over the brutal murder of the vocal blogger.
In the statement, the ODPP further confirmed filing a miscellaneous application 1 of 2024 and E025 of 2024 against five other suspects implicated in the murder, which are pending before the Kibera Law courts.
The office of ODPP assured a speedy prosecution of the matter, after the completion of the investigations.
Among the two charged suspects is Meru County Governor Kawira Mwangaza‘s brother Kenneth Guantai Murangiri.
The DCI raided the governor’s residence on Saturday, January 6, 2024, after the Eastern Regional Director of DCI Lenny Kisaka said the governor’s official residence is among the major crime scenes, under which investigation of the brutal murder of the blogger, where investigations will take place.
The governor had earlier distanced herself from the links involving her in the murder of the blogger. Speaking during a service at her church in Meru, Governor Kawira asked the investigative authorities to be honest and transparent with their investigation and avoid any bias or political interference, saying she’s open to a fair investigation.
The governor further linked the accusations to political rivalry from her opponents, who she says have used all means to bring her down without success.
“Do not be biased, don’t be used politically by those whom we defeated in the election whom we know and shall mention. If you were defeated in the election, take a rest. If you want to be governor, let us meet in 2027.” Governor Kawira said.
“We want the investigations to be open. We don’t live in a banana country, we live in a country governed by laws.” she further added.
On December 22, 2023, government’s pathologist Johansen Oduor’s post-mortem results indicated torture before strangling to death, with additional injuries on the chest, head and broken ribs on the blogger’s body.
“The victim was strangled; there was some mark on the neck caused by a rope. His death resulted from the lack of air. There were also some injuries on the chest; rib fractures on the right side from the seventh, eighth, and ninth rib,” said Oduor.
