Kabogo's account of dead girl's final hours

By Ally Jamah and Cyrus Ombati
Juja MP William Kabogo gave his account of the private party that ended with unexplained death of a university girl Mercy Chepkosgei Keino as the motorist whose car was sighted where her body was recovered surrendered to police. Kabogo spoke as the motorist - Mr Wycliffe Lugwiri Okelo - was questioned by police on his diary that night and why his dark Mercedes car, which was impounded, bore fresh paint.

He denied any involvement in her death, explaining to police he chanced on her body while driving along Waiyaki Way that night, stopped to avoid running over it, and that could be what a police witness mistook to be removal of a human body from his car. 

At the same time, while struggling with sheer pain and sense of loss, the father of late Mercy Keino shared his grief with the nation and appealed for speedy and conclusive investigation into her death. At the same time, a friend of the deceased who attended the same party broke her silence on the sequence of events on that sad day 11 days ago. 

But what was even more baffling were the answered questions on the fateful night, including who were in attendance, what the party was about, who was the host, and whether or not Keino, whose friends say was a teetotaler, did actually partake of the alcohol that was flowing in plenty in the Church Road apartment. 

Even more shocking were reports of threats some of the potential witnesses have received following the mysterious death, which police are treating as murder, have reportedly received.
Several friends of Keino’s contacted by The Standard revealed they received threatening text messages from unknown numbers.

"I am very scared. I don’t even want to speak to the media. I just want to lie low until this matter ends," said one of the friends who refused to be named.
Attempts to reach Ronny Kemboi, Keino’s fiancÈe were fruitless as friends insisted he was not ready to talk to the media. 

So far, alongside Kabogo, 16 potential witnesses have been questioned by police, including a man whose identity remains unknown except to the police, who hosted the nocturnal party at the apartment situated along Church Road, Westlands. Also questioned are Kabogo’s two bodyguards, who initial reports denied on Monday by the MP, claimed escorted Ms Keino out of the apartment’s restaurant. 

Among the guests at the party, sources revealed, was a rich businessman of Asian origin associated with a leading supermarket chain in the city.
On Monday, Kabogo said his conscience was clear regarding the death of Keino and condoled her family. 

"My conscience is very clear on this tragic incident and I am ready to co-operate with police to the end in efforts to know the truth. It is sad we are talking about it when the family is still mourning," said Kabogo who police interviewed last Monday.
He revealed he told police that when he arrived at the party where Keino was, he sat at a different table from the one she was. He explained he did not know what kind of party it was there but revealed he was invited there by a friend. 

"All I know is that all types of drinks were being supplied to all tables. But then there was some funny noise from the table next to ours which attracted all those who were present," he went on.
Kabogo said he thought most of those present including Miss Keino were drunk. She had, he claimed, apparently been rowdy and broken glasses and other valuables as she shouted at everyone present. It was at that point that some guards at the apartment together with his own intervened and took Keino out of the bar.

According to Kabogo’s version of events, Keino stayed outside for a while as her friends who were present followed her. She later came back and picked her bag and stormed out.
The legislator said he left the apartment long after Keino had also left but he did not know where she went. 

In his statement at the police station, Kabogo said he left the place with all his bodyguards and none of them had stepped out of the gate in pursuit of the woman as alleged.
His version contradicted earlier reports that Miss Keino declined to be served with alcohol, explaining it was against her religious beliefs, and that one of the guests forcibly took away her glass and gave her another drink believed to have been spiked or laced with some strong substance. However, Kabogo’s account of Keino’s alleged drinking matched that of the friend of the late University of Nairobi’s Masters degree student.

Speaking under fear and on condition of anonymity because of alleged threats she had received, she said she went to the party with Keino and drank fast and that her glass contained a cocktail of alcoholic drink.
At Parklands Police Station, the car belonging to Okelo, was detained for further investigation to ascertain if it was indeed involved in the killing as alleged by some witnesses quoted by the media. The brand new car was sealed off using the reflective tape police use to delineate crime scenes. He was still being questioned by police on Monday night. 

Speaking to The Standard, Keino’s colleague revealed her own friend called and asked her to attend a party on Friday, June 17, at an apartment in Westlands.
"We did not know who organised the party, but I asked the friend who called me if I could go with another friend and she agreed," she said.
She also revealed police had since taken a statement from her.
"I saw her drinking and I noticed that she was drinking heavily. She kept mixing different types of drinks, including spirits and wine, which made her tipsy rather fast," she said at her Nairobi home.

"Some people had warned her against mixing drinks but she dismissed them. When she became wild, Kabogo and his bodyguards tried to restrain her but she pushed them away," Keino’s companion told The Standard.
She said: "The bodyguards took Mercy outside the building and made her sit there. But when they returned inside, she started running towards the exit, where she was held back by the security guards." 

But speaking in Eldoret, her father Mr Yusuf Keino said he knew his daughter well and she had never taken alcohol and it was, therefore, not possible she quarrelled with people at the party.
According to different sources, the party brought together 19 people.
But the other girl at the party claimed arrangements were being made to get a vehicle to drop Keino to her place but she left on her own before it was secured and another friend who followed her returned because she could not be seen. 

"By this time, the security guards made no attempt to bring her back. They said she was an adult who is capable of taking care of herself, they hoped she would soon return inside the compound," recalled the source.