MIGORI Kenya, June 29 -The decomposed body that was retrieved from River Kuja in Migori County has been positively identified as that of the former Treasury staff Tom Osinde who went missing on June 17.
Migori County police commander Peter Kimani said the body, which hitherto remained unidentified, had been lying at the mortuary for six days.
The body was finally identified by the family members on June 29.
Both the Director of Criminal Investigations Mohammed Amin and the deceased’s brother Enock Nemwel Osinde also confirmed the sad end of a long search for the elder Osinde.
“Thank you friends for your outpouring love, prayers and support during my brother’s search. Unfortunately, the outcome isn’t the one we anticipated. Tom was killed and his body was found in Migori County,” the brother posted on his social media page.
The body was picked up by Kamagambo police officers on June 22. Detectives have also recovered polythene papers believed to have been used in choking the deceased.
Also recovered were some of his personal items from a farm where his vandalized car was found abandoned on June 22. His mobile phone is however yet to be found.
Osinde went missing on June 17 while travelling from his Nakuru home to his rural home in Kisii County.
His vehicle, a black Toyota Landcruiser registration number KBZ 900R, was later found abandoned and vandalized around Sikawa in Kilgoris, Narok County.
The car however had its registration number plates, battery and radio missing.
Police said there were some blood spots where the car was found on Saturday June 24 in the morning but they do not know his whereabouts. The people who abandoned the car also attempted to set it ablaze in vain.
Before he went missing, his vehicle was seen leaving his residence being driven by a strange person
Some boda boda operators near Osinde’s Ngata farm said Osinde would usually greet them but that day, he did not.
Detectives also said two electricity switches in the upper staircase of his Ngata home had been vandalized and part of the probe is to establish if they were vandalized before or after he went missing
“I saw the vehicle leaving the residence but it was being driven by a strange person who did not even greet us,” one of them said.
It is suspected that Osinde was killed somewhere in Kisii county before his body was dumped in River Kuja.
Already, two suspects –who were arrested on June 27 -are in custody in connection to the abduction and subsequent killing of Osinde.
They have been identified as Julius Mogoi, his employee who curiously arrived at their home in South Mugirango, Kisii County on the night of June 18, just hours after Osinde went missing.
This was the first time he was visiting in three years. He reportedly fled home after he was implicated in another case of murder that took place years ago.
The two workers of Osinde are said to have led to the identification of the body.
His driver was seen driving Osinde’s car in his village in Nyamira and to the place it was found dumped and vandalized on the roadside in Kiligoris.
He is said to have driven the Toyota Landcruiser to a car wash in Osinde’s village a day after he was reported missing.
“He told us to wash the car from outside only because it was not dirty inside,” a cash wash attendant said.
The suspect had spent the night in his village with Osinde’s car, something neighbours and villagers found shocking and unusual.
Detectives believe he then drove it to Kilgoris and abandoned it there.
The driver also claimed Osinde had told him to deliver some money to a woman at a petrol station in Kericho town which he did and talked to him when he delivered the cash on June 18. Detectives have however established that his claims are not true.
The same day the vehicle was found abandoned, Mogoi travelled back to Nakuru and continued with his normal duties, according to the investigators.
Rongai head of DCI Donnata Atieno said the two suspects were taken to court on June 27 and police allowed 21 days to detain them as they conclude investigations.
So far, detectives have confiscated five phones belonging to people of interest and are being subjected to analysis.
Transmara West Sub County police commander Jamlek Ngaruiya had earlier said the car was found abandoned on the roadside on June 22 which was almost five days after he went missing.
Osinde is the brother to Ken Osinde, the former Chief of Staff in president Ruto’s office when he was the deputy president. The late Osinde also served as Kenyan ambassador to Germany between 2010 and 2014.
The deceased attended the University of Nairobi, where he studied economics. After graduating, he worked for the Treasury Department for several years.
He was known for his expertise in financial management and he retired from Treasury in 2010 to start his own business.
He is successful in business, and he eventually acquired a large property in Ngata, Farm, Nakuru where he settled.
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