Murder for Profit: The wheels of justice in Kenya grind excruciatingly slowly. It can take years and years before meaningful progress in a murder can be made in Kenya’s courts. Up until now, the family of the late Makau Musyoka are still searching for justice over the brutal murder of their son.
In 2018, the Director of Public Prosecutions Noordin Haji ordered investigations into the circumstances that led to the brutal murder of a man from Machakos who was allegedly murdered over a Sh. 9 million life insurance policy claim.
This followed an investigative news report that aired on a local Television station where the family of the late Makau Musyoka appealed for justice.
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Musyoki, 27, died under mysterious circumstances in 2017. His body was found near their homestead in Kangundo, Machakos County. A postmortem revealed that he was hit on the head using a blunt object.
In 2018, police investigations identified Musyoki’s uncle, Evans Kasyoki, as the prime suspect. It is believed he orchestrated Musyoki’s murder in order to claim a life insurance policy worth Sh. 9 million from two insurance companies.
“The DPP attention has been drawn to a new feature appearing on Citizen Kenya Prime Time news in regard to the Kangundo incident. Due to the nature of the case, the DPP has directed that immediate legal steps be taken to ensure justice is done,” read a statement from Haji’s office, that was posted on Twitter in 2018 after the expose aired.
He cautioned anyone found to be obstructing the administration of justice for the family of the deceased will equally be prosecuted.
The statement further read: “DPP further wishes to inform the public that obstruction of due process is serious criminal offence and any person who will be found culpable shall face the full force of the law.”
According to the #MurderForProfit investigative report, the circumstances around Musyoki’s brutal murder involved a life insurance cover worth Sh. 1 million and Sh. 10 million that was taken from Jubilee Insurance and AIG Insurance respectively. The policies had been taken only three days prior to his death.
A related expose by the Nation had given startling details of how the former insurance unit manager took two life insurance covers for a poor nephew, planned his murder and had his body dumped in Kangundo. He then rushed to lodge claims. He had only made one premium payment before the murder happened.
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The investigative story caused an outrage as the public called for justice. In September 2018, the suspect was released on cash bail of Sh. 3 million and two sureties of similar amount pending hearing and determination of his murder trial. “I also order that the accused shall be appearing for the mention of this case once every month and that the sureties of the cash bond be approved by the deputy registrar of this court,” said Justice George Odunga. Murder for Profit.