The High Court of Kenya has convicted four men of murdering former Kabete Member of Parliament George Muchai, his two police bodyguards, and his driver in a 2015 shooting incident that occurred in Nairobi. Justice Kanyi Kimondo found Eric Mungera Isabwa, Raphael Kimani Gachii, Mustafa Kimani Anyoni, and Stephen Astiva Lipopo guilty on four counts of murder. The four accused were found to have jointly committed the murders, which took place on the night of February 6 and into February 7, 2015.
The victims, including Muchai, police constables Samuel Kimathi Kailikia and Samuel Lekakeny Matanta, and driver Stephen Ituu Wambugu, were killed along Kenyatta Avenue in Nairobi. The prosecution presented evidence from 37 witnesses, including testimony linking a G3 rifle recovered during investigations to a firearm previously stolen from a police officer. This evidence helped establish the guilt of the four accused beyond reasonable doubt.
The murder case initially involved seven accused persons, but three individuals - Jane Wanjiru Kamau, Margaret Njeri Wachiuri, and Simon Wambugu Gichamba - were acquitted due to insufficient evidence. In September 2025, Justice Kimondo ruled that the remaining four men had a case to answer, paving the way for the defence stage of the proceedings.
The prosecution's evidence also covered a series of robberies reported in Nairobi and Kiambu shortly before Muchai's killing. A separate case arising from those robberies was concluded earlier in 2026, in which the same four men were convicted of robbery with violence and sentenced to death by Milimani Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina. The case involved robberies in which property worth about KSh 1.1 million was stolen.
George Muchai was serving as Kabete MP when he was killed, travelling with his two police bodyguards and driver when they were attacked. The former MP's killing shocked Nairobi in 2015, and the recent High Court verdict brings closure to the case. The four men will now proceed to sentencing in the murder case after their mitigation pleas are considered.
The court's verdict was delivered after a lengthy trial, during which the prosecution presented extensive evidence. Justice Kimondo's ruling found that the four accused had jointly committed the murders, stating, "I therefore find all the four accused persons guilty on all the four counts of murder and convict them accordingly."
The four men, Eric Mungera Isabwa, Raphael Kimani Gachii, Mustafa Kimani Anyoni, and Stephen Astiva Lipopo, will await sentencing after the court considers their mitigation pleas. The case has been ongoing since 2015, and the conviction brings an end to a long and complex trial.
Key points
- Four men convicted of murdering former Kabete MP George Muchai and three others in 2015 Nairobi shooting.
