Detectives at Kilimani Police Station are investigating the mysterious death of 54-year-old Zaituni Kavaya, a Kibera resident who had been hired for laundry work on the fifth floor of an apartment along Mpunga Road in Kilimani.
Police confirmed that five members of the family who had contracted her services have since been arrested in connection with the incident.
According to her daughter, Faith Kavaya, she was called to Kilimani Police Station after failing to reach her mother on phone.
She said she had carried some tea for her mother, only to be informed of her death when she arrived.
"I told them this tea will get cold, let’s give mum the tea so that she can drink it, then they broke the news to me and told me, 'your mother has passed away.' The only thing we were told is that she fell from a building, but we weren’t given any other details.
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"We went to City Mortuary, and when we got there, we found it was my mum. Mum had left while she was fine, I was expecting her to come back safely," she said.
Court documents presented during the suspects’ detention hearing revealed that the tragedy is believed to have stemmed from a bitter dispute over missing cash.
The son of the household reportedly claimed that money had gone missing from a pair of trousers that had been washed by Kavaya.
"The son of the owner of the house did not find his money in one of the pockets, so he called her to ask where the money was.
"Kavaya denied knowing anything about it, and when the family insisted on reporting the matter to the police, she tried to escape and fell from the balcony," the suspects' lawyer, Wilson Hassan Nandwa, said.
However, Kavaya’s relatives have dismissed this explanation, insisting that she was the victim of foul play and demanding justice for her death.
A post-mortem examination revealed that Kavaya died from multiple injuries caused by heavy blunt force.
The five suspects are being held at Kilimani Police Station as investigations continue.
This comes a week after the body of a missing construction worker at the Talanta Sports Stadium was discovered inside a water sump at the site.
The victim, identified as 35-year-old Sammy Kyengo, had been reported missing by his wife a week earlier.
His body was found floating in a sump hidden behind boards beneath the terraces currently under construction on the left side of the stadium.
According to media reports, the discovery was made at around 9 am by a casual labourer who was clearing one of the rooms for plastering.
The worker noticed the covered sump and, after moving the boards, came across Kyengo’s body.
Investigators who arrived at the scene said the deceased bore visible injuries on the back of his head and the right side of his neck.
Additionally, blood was also seen seeping from his nose and mouth, complicating the circumstances surrounding his death.
The body was later transported to the Nairobi Funeral Home after forensic teams processed the scene.
News of the discovery sent shockwaves among workers at the project site.
"We are shocked to hear that there was a body recovered submerged inside water. We are shocked and asking ourselves, ‘in whose hands are we safe?’" Ivan Bongo, a fellow construction worker, told the press.
