Part 1 of 5: Death of ex-councillor returns to haunt Jamleck Kamau bid for Murang’a governor

The mysterious death of a former councillor is increasingly featuring in Murang’a gubernatorial race as spotlight turns on Kigumo MP Jamleck Kamau who is accused to have hired assassins to murder the civic leader.

Kenya Today, in our serialization of the issues various candidates are facing ahead of 2017 elections shares the behind the scenes in Murang’a County currently headed by Governor Mwangi Wa Iria.

Kamau has announced he is challenging Wa Iria for the seat. In this first part of a five-part series; we start off with an issue that has refused to die in Murang’a politics.

The 2012 brutal killing of councillor Obed Thuo alias ‘Wathu’ shocked the Kigumo constituency but what was more unnerving was the fact that the then MP, Jamleck, did not attend the funeral neither did he show any concern.

Area residents believed that Jamleck had something to do with the murder considering ‘Wathu’ was a popular civic leader who had announced he would challenge Jamleck for the 2013 elections. Thuo and Jamleck had earlier fallen out and was widely tipped to be the man to beat in 2013, considering Jamleck had performed dismally between 2007 and 2013.

The murder of Thuo thus paved the way for Jamleck’s easy return to parliament, critics say.

During the attack that happened outside Thuo’s gate in Muthithi village, Thuo’s wife Dorcas Muthoni was also hacked but miraculously survived.

She now lives with scars of that ordeal. Residents who called for an inquest over the murder claim their attempts were frustrated by the constituency office which wanted the matter to end as quick as possible.

So serious is the issue now that Jamleck is accused of attempting a black magic to exorcise the demons from the incident. Early July this year, it was reported that unknown people had broken into Jamleck’s rural home and killed several cows.

The cows had ears and udders cut while the eyes were gouged out. Many residents claimed Jamleck was using black magic to ward off the ghosts of Thuo.

“Bottles of tick control chemicals were collected in the cowshed and are part of the investigations,” revealed an eyewitness.

As Jamleck criss-crosses Murang’a, residents still wonder if he had something to do with the murder. If not, why did he show little concern? And why did his CDF team viciously oppose public inquest?

Part 2 of 5: Jamleck Kamau, wife and the death of Coffee in Murang’a. Don’t miss. 

The post Part 1 of 5: Death of ex-councillor returns to haunt Jamleck Kamau bid for Murang’a governor appeared first on Kenya Today.