New information has surfaced indicating that law enforcement authorities apprehended an incorrect individual in connection with the tragic murder of Rita Waeni, a 20-year-old student at Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology (JKUAT). The foreign national, initially arrested and in possession of a Mozambican passport, was released when witnesses failed to identify him as the person captured on CCTV during the heinous crime.
The detainee, initially held at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) and later transferred to Kasarani Police Station for identification, was found to be inconsistent with witness accounts due to a crucial detail: he did not speak Swahili. Investigators disclosed that witnesses, including the owner of the Airbnb where the crime occurred, confirmed that the actual perpetrator communicated in Swahili. This information was corroborated by the victim’s family, who stated that the suspect spoke Swahili during interactions and when demanding a ransom of Sh500,000.
The wrongly apprehended suspect, who had been residing in the South C area, was released as the ability to communicate in Swahili became a pivotal factor in narrowing down the search for the real culprit.
Rita Waeni, a fourth-year student at JKUAT, met a tragic end after leaving her aunt’s residence in Syokimau to meet a friend. The family spokesperson, Lilian Mutea, revealed that the family received a ransom demand of Sh500,000 delivered from Rita’s phone number at 5:00 am the following day. Unfortunately, the family’s attempts to negotiate or obtain more details about the ransom were thwarted, and additional demands were made even after Rita’s demise.
Compounding the tragedy, the owner of the rental apartment where the crime occurred, Priscila Maina, along with three others, namely Kelvin Mutiso, Eugene Omondi, and Brian Kinoti, faced legal consequences. Maina was charged with offenses related to the failure to register crucial tenant details, a violation of the law that impeded investigators’ ability to trace the actual murderer.
