CCTV cameras on Kenyatta Avenue did not capture the car witnesses said was used by the gunmen who shot Kabete MP George Muchai dead on Saturday.
Investigators handling the case say the cameras, situated only a few metres away, did not even capture Muchai’s own car or the shooting incident itself, because both were outside the devices’ field of vision.
The cameras however captured a blue Nissan Wingroad car and two other cars passing shortly after the MP, his driver and two bodyguards were shot dead at 3.25am on Saturday.
The devices did not show the number plates of the cars that passed by the scene shortly after the shooting.
But Nairobi Governor Evans Kidero categorically said that the CCTV cameras along Kenyatta Avenue work and the raw footage of what transpired on Saturday morning was given to the police by the county government.
“Let us make it clear – all the CCTV cameras in the CBD are working. The unfortunate events that happened on Saturday were all captured,” said Kidero.
Nairobi CID chief Nicholas Kamwende said police were last evening still reviewing the footage provided by the county government of Nairobi.
He said police had examined the images of several cars captured by the CCTV but none is a Probox, the model of car witnesses said the killers used.
Police hope to obtain more footage from buildings and banks within the area.
Kidero said both the county and the police manage all CCTV cameras in the CBD.
“There are two control rooms: One at City Hall and the redundant one at Police Headquarters. But still we just gave the police our footage, even though they had theirs,” he said.
Speaking at the Holy Trinity Catholic Church in Karobangi North, the governor said the police are now analysing the footage.
“We hope and believe that the footage will help them in their investigations. I have confidence that the perpetrators of the heinous act will be brought to book,” he said.
Muchai was killed alongside his two bodyguards and a driver.
It is believed that the gang trailed the MP from a hotel in Westlands before the killing.
A street urchin who had been asleep close to the scene and witnessed the attack has also failed to provide crucial information on the direction that the Probox used by the gunmen took after the incident.
The boy told police that he saw the men shoot the MP and other occupants of the car dead.
He said the killers pointed a gun at him but did not shoot.
Detectives from elite police units – the Flying Squad and Special Crimes Prevention – have been tasked to bring Muchai’s killers to book.
The investigators have now shifted the focus to police informers for vital information on the killers.
The investigators have set a 72-hour deadline to accomplish the task.
A five-hour meeting of top police commanders, among them CID chief Ndegwa Muhoro, former head of the Flying Squad Nyale Munga, Kamwende and investigators from the elite units was held on Saturday at the Nairobi Area CID offices.
Detectives have narrowed down their investigations to two theories.
First is the possibility that Muchai was killed by criminals operating within the CBD and the leafy suburbs and targeting motorists driving in high-end vehicles and visiting exclusive entertainment venues.
The second theory is that Muchai was killed following the public spat within the leadership of the giant workers union Cotu.
Cotu boss Francis Atwoli has asked the police to conduct thorough investigations to avoid ‘rumours’. Atwoli said despite the differences between him and Muchai, they were friends and colleagues.
Muhoro at the same time revisited the Gallileo club and restaurant on Waiyaki Way, where the MP had spent the evening with his wife and children. There was not much that the investigators gathered from the bar, other than a confirmation that the MP held a family party.
Muchai joined his wife and children for dinner at around 9pm, together with a sister-in-law who had arrived the same evening from South Africa.
The family left at around 2.30am in their Toyota Fortuner, which was parked along Chiromo Road.
– the-star.co.ke
