Martin Nyuguto is the head of the Homicide Unit at Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations DCI. Whenever a high profile murder shocks the country he is often the man deployed to lead the investigations.
But over the years a worrying pattern has emerged as many of the cases he has handled remain unsolved years later.
Take for example the 2016 murder of businessman Jacob Juma who was gunned down in Nairobi under mysterious circumstances. Or the 2017 killing of Chris Musando the former IEBC ICT Manager whose tortured body was found days before a hotly contested election. In both cases Nyuguto led the investigations but justice has never been served.
Then there was the brutal killing of Sharon Otieno in 2018 who was a former Rongo University student and seven months pregnant when her body was found in a forest. She had been abducted alongside journalist Barrack Oduor. The case caused national outrage. While arrests were made questions remain about the full truth and the pace of justice.
In the same year Sergeant Kipyegon Kenei a police officer attached to the Deputy President’s office was found dead in his house in what was reported as suicide. But many believe he was murdered to cover up a scandal linked to the DP’s office. Again Nyuguto led the investigation. No closure. No convictions.
And just this week Kasipul MP Charles Ong’ondo Were was shot dead near City Mortuary in Nairobi. As expected Nyuguto and his team are already on the scene. But for many Kenyans the script is familiar with another ongoing investigation that may never see the light of justice.
Despite his long service of over 30 years and contribution to forensic science in Kenya Nyuguto’s record with sensitive politically linked murders remains questionable. Some critics quietly claim he is more useful in managing public pressure than actually solving crimes.
With a new Cold Case Unit formed under his department there is hope that maybe some of these old wounds will be reopened. But until then the question still lingers. Is Martin Nyuguto solving murders or helping bury the truth.
