Five years on, father mourns son shot dead by club owner

Kelvin Oduor Onyango had barely lived with his fiancé for two weeks when his life was snuffed out by a high-handed nightclub owner who shot him at close range in Nairobi five years ago.

After the 24-year-old was buried at their rural home in Siaya County, the family resolved to let the teary-eyed young woman leave, as it was not feasible to have her stay on as a family member.

“Elders decided that because there was no brother who could inherit her, she should return to her home after the burial,” says Mr Oduor’s father, Mr Andrew Otieno, 52.

As the father of six told Nation on Friday, he was still reeling from the pain of two losses he has suffered — the sudden death of his third born; and what he considers a too-lenient sentence that killer Jackson Maina Wangui received on Tuesday.

Lady Justice Stella Mutuku, at the conclusion of the case where Click Club owner Jackson Maina Wangui was facing trial for the death, said the prosecution had failed to prove that he intentionally shot the victim.

KILL THE PATRON

The judge said the evidence presented showed that Mr Maina may not have intended to kill the patron, although he shot him in the head at close range. On the fateful Monday, Click Club had about 400 revellers. Popular for reggae nights, the club has a capacity of 700.

Justice Mutuku relied on the circumstantial evidence of a lead waitress at the pub, Mercy Njoki Chege, and a supervisor, only identified as George.

The two had testified that a fight broke out between some customers, but it was not clear how many people took part in it. They told the court that they had no doubt Mr Oduor was among those involved in the fight.

The cause of the fight was an allegation that Mr Oduor had stolen a mobile phone from a customer. The phone was, however, never produced in court nor identified.

Mr Joseph Kirero Sepi, a bouncer at the joint, had also been arrested and charged for the killing, alongside Mr Wangui. But he was later acquitted. Mr Oduor’s father says he is considering an appeal against Justice Mutuku’s verdict. “There is no justice at all. If you go through the file, you’ll never find anywhere where this guy did not have the intention to commit that offence,” he said.

FOURTH FLOOR

“What the file says is that this guy was supposed to help my son. How could my son be helped by being taken to the fourth floor unless somebody wanted to kill or maim him?”

He remembered the last conversation he had with his son, where Mr Oduor invited him to his house that week to meet the woman he was living with.

“That Monday, he did not report to work. He had been working with me in my company as a sales manager. He also used to run other businesses on Monday,” he said.

In the evening, Mr Oduor went to Click Club, as was his tradition. When he did not return home on Tuesday, the father got worried and started a search accompanied by his son Jackson. He would find the body at City Mortuary. “We were very shaken,” he recalls.

The five-year period the case has taken in court has been harrowing. Mr Onyango now plans to sue for compensation. “It’s a big loss that we cannot replace. If we get some little compensation, we might feel a little bit relieved,” he said.

A brother of the slain man, Mr Brian Juma, said were Mr Oduor alive, he could by now be the family’s breadwinner. “He could be very far, because he was a successful businessman.

The father wondered how his son could have stolen a phone yet he had a touchscreen phone worth Sh30,000.