Three people have been convicted for the murder of Nairobi businessman Isaac Kassim Jiraw alias Sokorow, who was lured to Kilifi with promises of a Sh23 million county government tender.
In her judgment, Mombasa High Court Judge Justice Wendy Kagendo Micheni convicted Eddlied Mandi Jilani, Makonde Ruwa Buni and Ngira Karisa Charo for the murder of Jiraw, which occurred on March 8, 2018.
The judge ruled that the prosecution had proved the murder charge beyond reasonable doubt through a chain of circumstantial evidence supported by financial transactions linking the accused persons to the crime.
“I find that the standard of proof was met and all the ingredients of the offence of murder were proved. I therefore find that the three accused persons committed the offense of murder contrary to Section 203 as read with Section 204 of the Penal Code and are accordingly convicted and found guilty,” Justice Micheni stated.
The judge said the unlawful killing of Jiraw was a natural and probable consequence of a common design, adding that each accused person bore equal criminal responsibility for the offense.
Following the conviction, the court canceled bonds granted to the first and second accused persons and issued a warrant of arrest for the third accused. The court also ordered the preparation of pre-sentencing reports, with mitigation and sentencing scheduled for July 30, 2026.
Jilani, a former driver with the Kilifi County Government, had received Sh650,000 as facilitation fees to allegedly secure a Sh23 million tender for Jiraw for the supply of X-ray foils and air conditioners to Kilifi County hospitals.
He was also reportedly offered a position in the county tender committee. However, the tender was later awarded to another individual, prompting the prosecution to argue that Jilani subsequently hatched a plan to kill Jiraw.
The court heard that Jiraw was invited to Kilifi to “formalize an agreement” and that was the last time he was seen alive.
Days later, his charred and disfigured body was discovered dumped in Arabuko-Sokoke Forest in Malindi sub-county.
A postmortem examination conducted at Malindi Level 4 Hospital revealed that Jiraw had been strangled and his body burned using sulphuric acid.
A business associate told the court that Jiraw had transferred money to Mandi as part of the tender arrangement and that the two had met several times in Kilifi before his disappearance.
During an earlier hearing in 2018 before Justice Erick Ogola, Charo confessed to strangling the businessman and claimed he had been hired by Mandi.
Charo later withdrew the confession, telling the court that it had been obtained through coercion by detectives during transfers between Malindi and Mombasa. He claimed he had been promised a reduced sentence for cooperating with investigators.
The conviction brings to an end an eight-year trial into the killing, a case that attracted national attention and saw witnesses testify from different parts of the country.
The prosecution described the matter as a case involving abuse of public office, fraud and the killing of an innocent citizen over a failed tender deal.
Prosecution Counsel Ngiri Wangui led the case, in which more than 10 witnesses testified before the court found the three accused persons guilty and convicted them accordingly.
By Hussein Abdullahi
