Ex-USIU-Africa Student Sentenced to Death for Sarah Akello Abduction and Murder

Justice Kanyi Kimondo sentenced former United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa) student Duncan Livingstone Kimathi to death for murdering fellow student Sarah Akello Aruwa. The case involved Akello’s abduction and a ransom demand of Ksh100,000.

The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP) announced the sentence on Thursday, October 29. Justice Kimondo found the 37-year-old guilty of killing Akello in an incident that took place between June 30 and July 1, 2012, in Kiamako, Githunguri, Kiambu County.

The ODPP said prosecutors called 17 witnesses to outline the abduction, the ransom demands made to Akello’s family, and her killing.

The court heard that Kimathi and his accomplices lured Akello into a trap, abducted her, and demanded money from her family in exchange for her release. Justice Kimondo concluded that the circumstances of the abduction and killing showed malice aforethought.

Akello was a final-year International Relations student at USIU-Africa. On the day she disappeared, she told a friend she planned to meet a man she had previously encountered at the university library.

The ODPP said evidence at trial showed that the abductors contacted Akello’s family and demanded Ksh100,000 for her release. Her mother, Hellen Atieno Aruwa, testified that a man called her from her daughter’s phone and demanded the ransom. She negotiated the amount down to Ksh70,000 and then reported the matter to Kasarani Police Station.

Akello’s boyfriend also told the court that he tried to call her. A man answered and demanded that the family send Ksh100,000 to Akello’s mobile-money account as ransom.

Investigators examined Akello’s notebook, which contained details of someone she planned to meet before she disappeared.

“The court further heard that the deceased had written in her notebook that she intended to meet a person identified as Daniel Muriithi, whose telephone contact she had also recorded. However, the court established that Mr. Kimathi did not know Muriithi and concluded that the identity had been used as part of a plan to lure the deceased,” the statement noted.

Investigators also recovered Akello’s bra, panties, and a blood-stained top from a house in Savannah where Kimathi’s girlfriend, Wairimu, lived.

A second accused person also faced trial but later absconded after the court released her on bail. The court then directed the proceedings to continue in her absence.

A postmortem examination found a laceration at the back of Akello’s head and bruises on her neck. Her tongue protruded from her mouth, and the examiner attributed her death to neck compression caused by manual strangulation.

In his judgment, Justice Kimondo found that Kimathi deliberately lured Akello into a trap before the abduction and ransom demands that preceded her killing.

“In his judgment, Justice Kimondo found that Mr. Kimathi had acted with malice aforethought, noting that the deceased had been deliberately lured into a trap for abduction and ransom before being murdered,” the statement concluded.

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