Umoja Garbage Collector Murder Trial: Witness Identifies Accused Who Allegedly Killed Rival Over Collection Route
“I identified him with ease because I knew him more than five years before the time of the offense, and his hair was dreadlocked,” Njeri added.
The High Court in Nairobi has heard an ordeal that left a garbage collector dead in unclear circumstances in Eastland, Umoja Estate in Nairobi County.
While giving her testimony before Justice Alexander Muteti, Michelle Njeri explained how Alex Mwendwa Muthei lost his life on March 3, 2024.
The witness informed the court that a dispute emerged between groups of garbage collectors in the Mowlem area of Umoja 3 Estate following the election of a new apartment. The issue led to a tussle over which group would be responsible for collecting garbage in the new building.
The woman narrated before Justice Muteti what she experienced on the fateful day at around 8:00 PM when a group of rowdy garbage collectors stormed into their plot with crude weapons.
“I saw the accused person, Peter Mwenda, armed with a metal rod in the company of others who are not in court, storm in my mother’s plot, smashed the glass window of the deceased’s rental house,” she said.
The deceased had rented a house in the said plot, and according to another witness, he was the one targeted. She informed the court that she could hear the accused’s accomplices shouting, “We want Muthei’s head.”
In the house, Mwenda was with three men when they realized the other group was targeting them; they then locked the door from inside.
After smashing the glass window, Njeri saw the accused person pouring out the paraffin and setting fire, which led the four men to escape by opening the door before the fire gutted the whole plot.
The men from the house escaped, but the deceased, who was their target, was accosted.
“I saw Mwenda, the accused, hitting the deceased with the metal rod he was carrying while he lay helplessly before his last breath,” Njeri said.
Njeri told the court that she identified the accused person after they were arrested, since he was known to her as a garbage collector and was involved in the Marijuana business.
“I identified him with ease because I knew him more than five years before the time of the offense, and his hair was dreadlocked,” Njeri added.
Mwenda is accused of murdering one Alex Muthei on March 3, 2024, at Mowlem area in Umoja 3 Estate within Nairobi county.
