Kabogo ‘slapped Mercy Keino during party’

Juja MP William Kabogo slapped university student Mercy Keino before she stormed out of a party and subsequently met her death, an inquest has been told.

Ms Scolastica Namwai Kamemba, Ms Keino’s friend, was the last person to see the University of Nairobi student alive on the fateful night of June 17, 2011.

Ms Kamemba told the inquest that the MP got annoyed when Ms Keino started shouting and moving about the Wasini Luxury Homes where the party was being held and broke some glasses after taking too much wine.

He slapped her several times, stated Ms Kamemba. “Mr Kabogo started slapping her while asking who had brought her to the party. Mercy got very scared and wanted to run away but some security officers and the MP’s bodyguards grabbed her and took her to the gate,” Ms Kamemba said. (READ: Police reconstruct student’s last moments)

She followed Ms Keino to the gate and tried to calm her down, but she ran towards Waiyaki Way in Westlands.

Ms Kamemba said the MP’s bodyguards agreed to help her bring back Ms Keino. They followed the student and found her standing in the middle of the road.

When they got back to Wasini Luxury Homes, the security guards denied them entry and they sat on the pavement.

Ms Kamemba said she then tried to ask Ms Keino for her phone to call her boyfriend, but she shoved her aside and took off. And that was the last time she saw her friend alive.

Ms Kamemba testified that she returned to the party and that when she asked Mr Kabogo to assist her trace where Ms Keino had run to, he refused, saying he was fed up with her behaviour.

The MP then told her to board a pick-up to drop her home. She then called Ms Keino’s boyfriend, but he said they would look for her the next day if she did not find her way back to the hostels.

Ms Keino did not show up and the next day they looked for her at three police stations but did not find her. Their search ended at City Mortuary where they found her body.

Asked if she knew what killed her friend, Ms Kamemba said that they were told by a doctor who did the post-mortem examination that a vehicle ran over her.

Ms Kamemba contradicted Ms Keino’s father who testified last week that his daughter did not take alcohol.

Asked how they ended up at the party, Ms Kamemba said a friend had invited her and she decided to go with Ms Keino.

“It was at my behest that Mercy went to the party. We were not aware who would be in attendance and just met Mr Kabogo after which we started general discussions before the night that turned tragic,” she said.

She said she had not met Mr Kabogo before and that it was after he joined them at their table that she was informed he was an MP. The hearing continues on Tuesday.