Police in Embu County are investigating the circumstances under which Embu businessman and former MCA aspirant Denis Mbae Mutegi was shot dead by unknown assailants at Bonanza area in Embu town on Wednesday night.
Mbae had earlier been charged in court with drug trafficking and was also on the radar of the detectives.
Even as the mystery still surrounds the shooting, mixed reactions greeted his death with some of the residents thronging the mortuary to celebrate his death.
Embu West Sub-County Police Commander (SCPC) Julius Kyumbule said the deceased was shot inside his car on Wednesday at around 11:00 pm at Bonanza area within the town when he was accosted by an unknown assailant as he was making his way to his residence.
The gunmen were driving in a vehicle that had no number plates, which they used to block the deceased car then they started shooting at his car. They shot at him 17 times.
The police commander said after the shooting, they drove away to an unknown destination, leaving the businessman fighting for his life.
"The assailants, who had a car that had no registration number plates, shot him many times. However, when we arrived at the scene, we found his vehicle inside a ditch and we rushed him to the hospital but he was unfortunately pronounced dead," Kyumbule said.
The body is preserved at Embu Level 5 hospital as police launch investigations.
The shooting comes barely three weeks after another suspect, Samuel Mugo Muvota from Embu, was also shot dead inside his car at Mirema Drive in Kasarani.
Muvota was also being investigated over his involvement in criminal activities, involving heading a gang that was known for administering stupefying drugs to patrons in clubs before stealing from them.
The fatal shooting of Mbae remains a mystery with reports that he was well known in the region and was even a close confidant of many senior police officers and even judicial officers.
The well-connected and wealthy man had been investigated over reports that he was selling drugs, especially bhang from Ethiopia.
“An independent probe had revealed that he was colluding with some senior police officers and even court officials, and was even bribing them,” a senior officer based in Nairobi told K24 Digital.
Since April last year, at least 30 people who had cases pending before court or were under investigation have been killed in mysterious circumstances. The manner of killings has been so distinctive and bears all the hallmarks of the work of a very organized group, possibly the state security agencies.
Other sources within the police service said it could also have been a case of a deal gone sour.
In 2019, Mbae was apprehended in Embu court to face charges of drug trafficking. He was charged before the then Embu Law Courts Resident Magistrate Jean Ndengeri with trafficking cannabis Sativa (bhang) worth Ksh260,000.
The charges read that on November 14, 2018, at Dallas estate in Embu County, he was found trafficking cannabis Sativa weighing 13 kilograms with a street value of Ksh260, 000.
He was arrested after police officers who had been trailing him for three months cornered him at his house in Dallas estate where, upon search of his Probox vehicle, the drugs were recovered. He was released on a Ksh300,000 bond with two sureties of a similar amount.
The news of the gunning down of Mbae, who locals alleged was the head of the gang that was terrorizing locals, sparked celebrations across the county and its environs.
Social Media networks burst and came alive with celebratory messages by locals who said the shooting of the deceased was marking the end of a terrifying reign of lawlessness; the crushing of a crime syndicate that they said had “grown so big that gangsters could unleash their ferocity and terrorize entire neighborhoods in broad daylight”.
Some of the residents alleged that the deceased was the mastermind of criminal acts targeting different parts of Embu and neighbouring areas.
"I don't mourn the deceased. I knew him but his actions made me hate him. So many people have suffered because of him," alleged a man who went to see him at Embu mortuary.
Other residents claimed that the deceased was part of the gang that was involved in house break-ins, robbery and illegal sale of electronics, vehicle parts, and household items, theft of livestock, and drug smuggling among other crimes citing that it may have been a deal gone sour.
The locals flooded Embu Hospital mortuary where the lifeless body of the deceased is lying to have a glance at it, with others coming as far as Kirinyaga County.
The deceased had earlier contested the Kirimari Ward representative seat on a Maendeleo Chap Chap party ticket.
Mbae is said to have also been working closely with a Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officer who was based at Embu but was also murdered in unclear circumstances in January this year.
The body of Constable Abdirahim Adow Abdulahi was found dumped near Kolol viewpoint, along the border of Elgeyo Marakwet and Baringo counties. The body had deep cuts on the head, face and at his neck, showing signs of strangulation.
The officer had gone to Mombasa on assignment and on his way back he was abducted by unknown men around Isiolo.
