Mr Ken Lugwili alias Wycliffe Otieno, a controversial businessman who was arrested by police officers in June 2022 after 22 firearms and 565 rounds of ammunition were recovered from his office in Kilimani Estate, Nairobi County, has died.
The family of Mr Lugwili, whose life was full of run-ins with the police, revealed that he passed away on June 13 at the Kenyatta National Hospital, where he was receiving treatment. He was admitted on Friday, June 9.
Nairobi News understands that friends and family have made funeral arrangements at the Ashaki Grill on Kindaruma Road.
In an obituary published in the Daily Nation, Mr Lugwili’s family revealed that he would be buried on Friday, June 24, 2023, at his home in Buguga, Vihiga County.
“A service will be held at Montezuma Mbagathi Way on Thursday 22 June 2023 at 3pm. The cortege will leave Montezuma Funeral Home on Friday, June 23, for the burial which will take place on June 24, 2023 at Buguga, Vihiga County,” reads part of the obituary.
Mr Lugwili is a man whose life was mired in controversy and in the last incident when he was arrested with the 22 firearms, his case was handed over to the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit (ATPU).
The weapons were recovered from the deceased, who was associated with a company called Vic Technologies, when auctioneers raided his office alongside police officers.
The deceased had accumulated rent arrears amounting to Sh4.9 million, prompting the landlord to seek a court order that allowed him to break into the premises and auction his property.
Police said the firearms included nine Escort Magnum short guns, one Benelli short gun, five Guatro short guns, one Savage short gun, six Walter pistols and a total of 565 rounds of ammunition of various calibres.
In a statement, the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said his licence to deal in firearms had been suspended in 2018.
The statement further revealed that he was in possession of 25 pistol holsters, nine double magazine carriers, six single magazine carriers, 30 slings, five sniper altimeters and ten sniper flashlights.
Mr Lugwili is a man known to have a dark past, and it remains unclear how he managed to obtain a firearms licence with his criminal record.
In 2019, Mr Lugwili was arrested along with nine others after they were found in possession of counterfeit currency.
The other eight were identified as Bongo Ulerech, Olivier Mango, George Sr Gboe, Richard Kabasili, Egid Musolieva, Timothy Muhumuza and Brian Kimani.
He was implicated in the case of Mercy Keino, a university student who died after an altercation with former Kiambu governor William Kabogo.
In the case, police said Mr Lugwili used his car to dump Ms Keino’s body.
In his statement to the police, the deceased presented himself to officers investigating the matter and denied claims that his Mercedes Benz was the one that dumped Ms Keino’s body along the busy Waiyaki Way.
He denied any wrongdoing, saying that he only saw the body on the road and swerved to avoid it.
His first major collision with authorities was 16 years ago when was he sentenced to nine years on September 9, 2003, for defrauding various businessmen while impersonating Mr Alfred Gitonga, who was then an aide to former President Mwai Kibaki.
His sentence, however, translated to three years as the sentences were to run concurrently.
A month later, he was sentenced to two years in prison for trying to defraud former Kenya Pipeline managing director Ezekiel Komen of Sh20,000.
