The alleged boyfriend of June Jerop Kangogo, an accountant at the National Industrial Training Authority (Nita) in Nairobi who was found murdered a fortnight ago, says she owed him Sh1 million.
Mr Jesse Wafula Walukha, in documents filed at the High Court in Nairobi, also says Kangogo was his business partner and she was avoiding queries from her colleagues at work over her lifestyle and ownership of a motor vehicle.
He wants to be released from police custody, saying there is no tangible evidence tying him to Kangogo or linking him to the murder and that he has “nothing to do with her death”.
On allegations of having a coffee date with Kangogo, an MBA student at Kenyatta University, prior to her death, he says he never met her and that he “has nothing to hide”.
Describing himself as an ICT expert and a young businessman operating in Nairobi and Bungoma, Mr Walukha says he had sold a salvaged car to Kangogo and at the time of her death last month, she owed him Sh1 million which was still paying.
Mr Walukha adds that he and Kangogo were in business and she would use his company to apply for tenders in the organisation where she worked.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Inspector-General of Police have been able to verify this position owing to the huge transactions that have been lifted from Kangogo’s phone records, he claims.
“I am also in the business of selling salvaged cars and had sold to Kangogo her motor vehicle. At the time of her passing, she still owed me about Sh1 million, which she was still paying. As such, the motor vehicle is still in my name,” says Mr Walukha in a petition filed in court by his lawyer John Swaka.
“Kangogo asked me to have the lease put in my name so that she could escape any queries being asked at work since she was earning Sh48,000 and her monthly rent was Sh30,000. The audit at her place of work would have raised eyebrows on this kind of arrangement,” he narrates in the affidavit.
Kangogo went missing on March 19, 2023, and her body was found two days later dumped near Jamhuri Primary School in Nairobi County.
Mr Walukha says he travelled to Bungoma to conduct business on March 18 and was arrested on March 23 in connection with the murder.
A magistrate court allowed his detention pending the conclusion of the investigations.
