Two murders, bitter family feud and Sh1.5b land war: The deadly revenge in Dr Mutiso's murder

Chris Mulwa and his mother, Rose Mbithe, at the Milimani law courts. They are to be detained at Kileleshwa police station until August 27, 2026. [David Gichuru, Standard]

It was a letter written in the heat of frustration that would set off a chain reaction of bloodshed spanning more than two decades. On February 24, 2003, Rose Mbithe Ndetei, now Rose Mbithe Mulwa, penned a bitter complaint to the Law Society of Kenya.

"I applied for division of matrimonial property - Case No. 6 of 2002 (O.S) between myself and one Prof. David Musyimi Ndetei. However, opposing advocate Kyalo Mbobu insisted his diary was full until the end of the year!... This deliberate behaviour causes unwarranted discomfort to the parties concerned, more so when the delay is purely out of malice".

She copied the letter to the Chief Justice, the Minister for Justice, the Kenya Human Rights Commission, and the Federation of Women Lawyers. Interestingly, her own lawyer, Chris Mutuku, later wrote an apology to Mbobu, stating: "I received with utter disbelief your letter...I was never a party to the drafting of the tirade against you...You must, understandably, feel offended and insulted and for whatever it is worth, you have both my profound sympathies and sincere apologies".

The Law Society dismissed the complaint on Fool’s Day, April 1, 2003, advising her in a letter to "allow the matter before the Courts to run to its natural conclusion".

She would not let it rest. On January 15, 2004, she confronted Mbobu outside a courtroom, calling him, as witnesses testified, "a liar, useless and most corrupt advocate in the city" while holding and pushing him. The commotion was so loud that Justice Kamau, who had just heard her application, summoned the parties and cautioned her.

Following the confrontation, Mbobu sued for defamation and on November 11, 2005, Lady Justice Mugo entered judgment for Mbobu, awarding him Sh1,500,000 in general and aggravated damages, plus costs.

Rose did not appeal. Her bill of costs was taxed and allowed at Sh208,830 on September 6, 2006. An attachment order was issued on November 16, 2006, and her goods were proclaimed on December 18, 2006. On December 28, 2006, she filed an application to set aside the judgment. Justice Visram granted a temporary stay of execution on condition that she deposit Sh500,000 in court by January 3, 2007, as security, a condition she failed to meet.

Unable to pay the decretal amount, Rose lost the house that had been awarded to her as matrimonial property. The property, a prime 20-acre parcel in Mlolongo known as L.R. No. 1504/13, skyrocketed in value over two decades due to its proximity to Nairobi and the Mombasa Highway and is currently worth Sh1.5 billion.

Professor Ndetei had successfully sued Orbit Chemical Industries in the early 2000s, claiming their factory's discharge ruined the land's agricultural usability, and was awarded Sh269 million in damages. Eventually, after Rose lost the defamation case, Mbobu attached her house and had it sold. The buyer curiously was Mbobu’s client in the divorce case against Rose. The title was transferred to Prof. Ndetei and his second wife, Dr Victoria Mutiso.

The battle over that land would claim two lives. The first death took place on September 9, 2025, 18 years later.

On that evening, at 5:09 pm, Mathew Kyalo Mbobu left his Nairobi office and began driving home toward his Bogani residence in Karen. He was actively trailed by hitmen riding a motorcycle. As his vehicle slowed due to evening traffic along Magadi Road, the motorcycle pulled up beside his car door. An assailant dismounted, pulled out a firearm and opened fire at point-blank range through the driver's window. Nothing was stolen from the scene.

A postmortem conducted by Chief Government Pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor at Lee Funeral Home revealed he was shot eight times. "He died from excessive bleeding and severe injuries to the vessels on the neck and spinal cord," Oduor said.

Mbobu, a former chair of the Political Parties Disputes Tribunal and lecturer at the University of Nairobi's Faculty of Law, had built a high-profile career in commercial litigation. Family and friends described him as humble, charismatic, intelligent, smart, ever smiling, and above all, a keen and intelligent listener. DCI Director of Legal Services Augustine Kitonyi told The Standard, "Death has robbed us of a legal tower. It will never be the same again".

A day after Mbobu’s assassination, on September 10, 2025, Rose obtained a court order authorising her to evict the "squatters" her ex-husband and Dr Mutiso from the property. Up until the night he was shot, Mbobu remained the central figure blocking Rose Mulwa's legal attempts to seize or auction the disputed 25-acre land in Mlolongo.

Less than a year later, the pattern repeated with exact precision. On the morning of July 29, 2026, at 9:23 AM, Dr Victoria Nthunya Mutiso was ambushed in Upper Hill while travelling to the Africa Institute for Mental and Brain Health, where she was Director of Research and Administration.

A black Toyota Land Cruiser Prado had partially blocked the road on Mawensi Road. The Uber driver slowed down before seeing a person seated at the left rear window of the Prado open fire. Two gunmen on a motorcycle then approached and shot Dr Mutiso three times. Two bullets struck her in the head and one in the upper body. The driver immediately sped away and rushed her to Kenyatta National Hospital, where she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

A post-mortem conducted by Dr Oduor confirmed the cause of death as multiple gunshot wounds.

Detectives discovered that Dr Mutiso had reported threats to her life exactly 22 days before her murder. On July 7, 2026, while driving along Ngong Road near Junction Mall, two men on a motorcycle allegedly drew a gun on her. She fled the scene and reported the incident at Kilimani Police Station.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations launched investigations and on July 31, 2026, Rose Mbithe Mulwa and her son, advocate Chris Mulwa, were arrested in Karen and presented in court. But the operation had revealed a network far more extensive than a family conspiracy.

On August 7, 2026, DCI Director Mohamed Amin briefed the nation on a meticulously planned assassination involving both civilians and police officers.

"The investigators have established that the elimination of Dr Victoria Mutiso was driven by a long-standing land dispute in a civil suit before the Machakos Law Courts," Amin stated.

The DCI identified several prime suspects: Daniel Mwangi Njoroge, alleged organiser of the operation, coordinating logistics, facilitating movement of the execution team, and driving one of the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado vehicles used to block Dr Mutiso's Uber. Kelvin Ngugi Kinuthia was the motorcycle rider and Nelson Masiga Makaralu was arrested alongside Angela Mulwa.

Police officers who were associated with the murder were revealed as Constable Elijah Kibelion Kimoi, attached to Karinde Police Post, who was arrested after ballistic examination confirmed his police-issued Mini Jericho pistol was the murder weapon. The firearm, fitted with a magazine containing nine-millimetre ammunition, was recovered during a search at the armoury. Ballistic analysis of spent cartridges from the scene and a bullet recovered from Dr Mutiso's body matched evidence from the firearm.

Inspector Kenneth Kipkemboi Sang, Officer Commanding Nderi Police Post under Kikuyu Police Station, was identified as the link person between the financiers and the operational team, as well as the source of the murder weapon. This officer is currently on the run.

"Some of the suspects involved in this incident may also be linked to the tragic drive-by shooting of lawyer Kyalo Mbobu,” Amin stated.

Rose Mbithe Mulwa, the main suspect in the murder, has lived much of her adult life in the public eye. Before she was known as Rose Mbithe Mulwa, she was known as Rose Mbithe Ndetei, as indicated in a Gazette Notice dated May 13, 2003. She changed her surname after divorcing Prof. Ndetei following a 31-year marriage. Their four children include Chris Mulwa and Angela Mulwa, both advocates of the High Court.

Rose grew up in Iveti in Machakos County and, in previous interviews, describes herself as a businesswoman and politician. She contested the Machakos governor seat in 2022 but lost to Wavinya Ndeti. She recently announced her intention to run for president in 2027 as a candidate for the Empowerment and Liberation Party (ELP). During the party launch in August 2025, she stated: "Let me reiterate my agenda: ELP, Agenda Kenya Forty-Seven, AK47. At ELP, we do not use guns; we take action together as a united family".

Professor David Musyimi Ndetei has lost his lawyer and his wife within a year and is sickly and reportedly in hiding.

For the first time since his wife's murder, Prof. Ndetei broke his silence during Dr Mutiso's requiem service at CITAM Valley Road on August 7, 2026. An emotional Ndetei said: "Yes, we are hurting very much, but I have forgiven those who hurt my family beyond human comprehension. We hold no bitterness against them. But God's purpose will prevail, not theirs".

Dr Mutiso was laid to rest in Wanzuni, Mbooni, in Makueni County.