Repeat offender accused of stabbing matatu conductor to death in Dandora

Residents, drivers, and conductors abandoned their vehicles and marched on foot to the Buruburu Police Station, demanding answers and justice.

Police say the suspect who stabbed Mwangi to death is a repeat offender, recently released from prison, and on the run.

For hours, matatus were parked, engines silent. The community chose protest over business, determined to highlight what they call a collapse of security on their route.

“We walked on foot from Dandora to come here to Buruburu; this man [the suspect] has been doing these things for a long time, and it seems the local [police] office has been unable to do the job. So we have come here to see if work will be done because the boy died a painful death; you cannot stab someone in the heart and the neck, leave them with their money, and just walk away with a phone,” Kabiru Kariuki, a conductor in Dandora said.

Mwangi was stabbed to death approximately 100 metres from his house. In his hands, he was carrying two packets of milk and a cake for his supper.

Police say the suspect in the fatal stabbing is not a stranger to crime.

“We have identified who committed this act; he is a jailbird. We are told he left jail not even a week ago—it has been three days since he left prison. That is not someone who should be staying in the community. We are looking for him,” said Boniface Lomuk, the OCPD Buruburu.

But community leaders say this is not the first time.

“He has been arrested and released repeatedly, and we hear he just left jail last week, and now he has come to kill our people. We reported to Dandora Police Station, and they say they are investigating, but it seems he is too much for them,” said Charles Ngatia, the Chairman Dandora Matatu Association

For Joseph Mwangi’s family, the pain is unbearable.

“And I went all the way to Mama Lucy [Hospital] and confirmed that he has indeed passed away. The only thing I can ask is for justice to be served against the person who did this,” said his father, John Mwangi.

“Even on Wednesday, I was with him; he took his voter's card to go and laminate it. Today he was supposed to come to my place, but I was met by young men who told me my brother is gone, he is already dead, and he had just been out working to make a living,” his sister, Jackline Njoki said.