1 January 2010
Nairobi — As the country ushers in the new year, a family in Kiambu is mourning their son who was shot dead in unclear circumstances on Christmas Day. Mr Samuel Mbatia, an auditor with Equity Bank, is said to have been shot dead by police officers in Njoro after he refused to heed orders to stop.
A woman who is said to have been with the deceased shortly before he met his death recorded a seven-page statement at the Central Police station in Nakuru on new year's eve. Speaking to the Saturday Nation at the station, the woman, identified as Ms Eunice Mukami, 30, recounted her last moments with Mr Mbatia.
Heavily bandaged on her chin and with injuries on her hand and leg, Ms Mukami claimed she met Mr Mbatia at a nightspot in Nakuru Town on Christmas Eve and spent the night with him at a hotel in the town. In the morning, Mr Mbatia refused to pay her the amount they had agreed on and instead gave her only Sh200.
She further claimed that they got into Mr Mbatia's car, a Subaru, and drove on the Nakuru-Eldoret highway. On the way, a dispute arose after she demanded more money. At this point, Mr Mbatia allegedly pushed her out of the moving vehicle. "My door was not closed properly and I had not fastened my seat belt. While we were arguing, he pushed me out and I fell," she claimed.
She said she fell on the tarmac and sustained serious jaw, leg and hand injuries. A passer-by who had witnessed the incident alerted the police who circulated the car's registration number. Her claims were corroborated by Nakuru police boss Johnson Ipara who said his officers had been alerted by a caller that a gangster had ejected a woman out of a moving vehicle.
According to Mr Ipara, Mr Mbatia drove towards Salgaa trading centre and diverted to an earth road leading to Elburgon and then headed to Njoro. He said that his officers spotted the vehicle at Njoro and flagged it down, but Mr Mbatia did not stop, prompting a chase.
Police caught up with him near Technology farm where he was shot dead. But a distraught Mr Joseph Njenga, Mr Mbatia's father, accused the police of killing his son in cold blood.
Reported by Casper Waithaka, Francis Mureithi and Eric Wainaina