WHAT DOES MP AND FORMER PS KNOW ABOUT MURDER?

By James Mwaura. 

The body of missing National Lands Commission (NLC) official Jennifer Itumbi Wambua was found yesterday at City Mortuary, having been strangled to death.

Police reports indicate that her body was first found in a thicket in the Ngong area on Saturday, about 30km from the Nairobi city center before it was ferried to the mortuary.

Details have now emerged with police trying to piece together her murder with an Sh122 million graft case that she was to testify in.

For instance, she was set to be cross-examined tomorrow, Wednesday, March 17, 2021.

According to a local publication, the case dates back to when Lugari MP Ayub Savula and former Principal Secretary Sammy Itemere were charged alongside 16 others with conspiring to defraud the government of Sh122.3 million in 2018.

At the time, Itemere was the PS at the Ministry of Information, Communications, and Technology where together with his co-accused, they reportedly paid out money to fictitious companies claiming they had provided services to different government departments.

Also charged was Dennis Chebitwey who was the head of the Government Advertising Agency at the time of the fraud.

Jennifer, the murdered official had already testified last month in the case and was to be cross-examined again on March 1. She however reportedly fell ill and was admitted at Mp Shah Hospital as the case was adjourned to tomorrow.

Further reports indicate that she had expressed fear for her life having survived a car accident last week where a lorry rammed into her car.

Jennifer was last seen on Friday, March 12, 2021, when she was dropped to work by her husband and upon failing to return home, the family raised concerns.

Her husband, Joseph Komu, who works in the Ministry of Agriculture at Kilimo House said her phone and handbag were found in the family car after he dropped her off thus raising suspicion.

“I picked the car at around 11 am and went to the garage where I discovered my wife’s handbag and her phone. After the car was fixed, I drove to her office to drop the items but was shocked when her colleagues told me she had not been seen that day,” Komu said.

A CCTV footage obtained from her workplace also details that she had reported working and was seen on the fourth floor of the building before she walked out.