A Juja woman has broken her silence over the death of her brother, Michael Kimani, recounting in painful detail how a routine trip to pay condolences ended with her identifying his body at a police station.
In a video shared on Facebook under the hashtag #NgigeKnows, the woman describes how Michael left home on a Saturday morning after their conversation about visiting a family that had recently lost a young man.
The sister recalls that Michael initially intended to travel alone, but she urged him not to, suggesting he go with a friend named Karanja.
Michael’s sister’s last advice to him
She also told him to avoid coming home late that night and proposed he spend the night away and return the following morning so she would know he was safe.
Michael agreed and left at around 9:30am. The two siblings never spoke again.
The following morning, as she sat in the living room after waking up to clean the house, there was a knock at the door. Two young men stood outside.
Michael’s friends break news of his death
When she asked whether Michael was around, they fell silent, then told her he had died. She says she was unable to process what she was hearing, repeatedly asking how they could know where he had gone, only to be told he was already dead.
The young men explained that officers from Mugutha Police Station had called them, asking whether they knew Michael and his family, and requested that they help identify a body.
Kaimbu family rushes to Mugutha Police Station
The family rushed to Mugutha Police Station by motorcycle taxi. There, a family friend was asked by officers to identify the body first. He confirmed it was Michael.
When the sister went to look herself, she found her brother lying in a police vehicle, partially covered with a bedsheet and still dressed in his shorts.
Officers told her that Michael had reportedly been thrown from the ninth floor of the Astro building, an Airbnb facility in Juja.
Michael transferred to Nazareth Hospital
According to information passed to the family, a police officer had picked up Michael and a young woman named Stacy from near a petrol station close to the building. Michael had allegedly been led through the gate and into the building before the incident occurred.
The family also received conflicting information in the aftermath, being told at different points that Michael had been taken to hospital and that they would need funds from the morgue before transferring him to Nazareth Hospital.
