Carol Ngumbu's Family: Msando's Family got a state job, but we got nothing

Five years ago, Chris Msando, an employee of the electoral agency, and Carol Ngumbu’s bodies were discovered together. Carol Ngumbu’s family is now calling for justice.

In an exclusive interview with NTV, Carol’s mother Serah Ngumbu and sister Jedida Wanjiku said that the government had forgotten about Carol and that the family had not heard from anybody since they made statements with police after the killings.

They claim that Carol didn’t work for the government, in contrast to Msando, whose family the government helped by providing his wife with employment, and as a result, they have been forgotten.

Although they have moved on, Ms. Ngumbu says she still worries if the murder will ever be solved and adds that the government need to take them into consideration since Carol’s education cost them a lot of money.

“The loan I took to educate her I paid after her funeral. Her father and I had a hard time because we sacrificed a lot,” a teary Ms Ngumbu said at her home in Gachie home, Kiambu County.

“I would like the government to look into this matter and she was a kid and if she had completed her studies and was still alive, she would have worked for the government or citizens.

“The family of Msando were heard after speaking out, but I’ve been forgotten. There is no communication at all.”

Wanjiku, Carol’s sister, mirrored her mother’s emotions by claiming that they had been treated insignificantly.

“Our biggest concern here is … even about Msando’s family. He had a family and very young children. I believe one day the kids will ask where their father went. As much as we need answers, they also do. At least the government condoled with them. The mother got a state job. As much as they need answers, they are in a better position now, I think,” Ms Wanjiku said.

She added: “Carol (her real name was Maryanne Wairimu Ngumbu) and Chris were different people and I think, maybe, that’s why their cases were treated differently, because Carol didn’t work for the government. It is so unfair because Carol is also a human being.”

The family questions why there was never a public enquiry into the killings by the government. The murders have not been solved as the nation prepares for another general election.

“The least they would have done was to hold a public inquest, whereby at least we could have found answers … I also believe that not all cases can be resolved,” said Ms Wanjiku.

Carol was dating an IT whiz who worked for the election agency, according to Ms. Ngumbu, who claimed that Carol was focused on her studies and disciplined.

Ms. Ngumbu, a devout woman, prayed for Msando to be found when she heard that a senior official of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) had vanished, not realizing that death would also befall Msando’s family.

She claimed that it took her days to come to terms with the news after learning from neighbors that the IEBC employee’s body had been discovered next to another woman who was eventually recognized as her daughter.

“She was a very polite person and she was very disciplined. She used to listen to her father. There is no day she was sent home for fees. I wasn’t aware of her affairs with the guy (Msando),” Ms Ngumbu said.

“These are girls; they have their own issues. I knew nothing about the guy. When people brought me the news that the person who had disappeared had been murdered with Carol, I didn’t believe it. It took me a long time to do so.”

Carol’s sister claimed to be aware of her relationship with Msando but was unable to tell their parents because it was none of their concern.

Ms. Wanjiku claimed that Msando and her sister were supposed to hang out together at a Nairobi nightclub the night before they were killed. However, her phone rang, breaking their connection.

“That day, Carol told me that she was to meet with Chris but he was attending a meeting. Chris called her to inform her that she should wait for him somewhere. A colleague of Chris, whom I had met before, was to give Carol company until Chris showed up,” she said.

“Since I was to join them, Carol called me asking where I was. I told her I wanted to clear with my clients first before I could leave, but my phone went off. I tried to charge it but it didn’t work out.

“That evening, I don’t know what happened with my phone. I could not go to town because I didn’t have cash with me. I was to pay for my cab with M-Pesa and that’s how I decided to go home.

“All these happened that particular Friday and already Chris had showed up. That is the last time I spoke to them. It was around 9-10pm. That’s how I missed that company. It is the phone that helped me by going off.”

Ms. Wanjiku claimed that she contacted her sister and Msando the following morning, a Saturday, but their phones were not in use. When she couldn’t reach them despite numerous attempts to contact during the day and on Sunday, she began to worry about her sister’s location.

Ms. Wanjiku wasn’t interested in monitoring news, therefore she was unaware that Msando had been reported missing. She continued to be unwilling to tell her parents about her sister’s relationship with the IEBC IT manager. Nearly three days later, she discovered on social media that her sister had passed away.
“On Monday, I decided that I would inform my mum or another cousin of mine. I logged in to my social media and that’s where I learned that Chris was missing. When I perused further, I found that Chris’ body had been found next to that of an unknown female. I started screaming immediately because I knew, without asking anybody, that was my sister,” she said.

“A friend of mine and I went to City Mortuary to view the body. We paid Sh500 and after that, my friend, who was ahead of me and had entered first, started shouting Caro, Caro, Caro, and immediately, I knew it was my sister.
“At this time, nobody else in my family knew anything. In the news, she was still being described as an unknown lady. Nobody else knew about it; no one knew what was going on at home.

The government hasn’t informed the family of any developments in the homicide investigations five years later.

“They recorded our comments, and we haven’t heard from them since. absolutely nothing, “explained Ms. Wanjiku.

According to police spokesman Bruno Shioso, an investigation is still ongoing into the deaths.
“We keep on learning from our past. For us as the National Police Service (NPS), the case of Msando, about his death, is actively under investigation by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI),” he said.

Msando had promised Kenyans in a TV appearance before he passed away that the elections will be free and fair. In the presidential election, Raila Odinga competed against President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The Supreme Court declared the results invalid, and the IEBC was ordered to hold a new election.

Msando was found to have died from strangulation, according to an autopsy performed by government pathologist Johansen Oduor.

“He died from strangulation and he also had incisions on his right arm, but the rest of the body was intact,” he said.

The announcement of Msando’s disappearance came on July 28, 2017.

Three days later, his body was discovered in the Kikuyu town of Kikuyu’s Maguga forest beside Carol, who was 21 years old.

His passing caused an air of confusion at Anniversary Towers, where the IEBC’s offices sit, and Kenyans began to voice concerns about the fairness of the elections that were scheduled to take place the following month.

Following the autopsy, IEBC Chairman Wafula Chebukati told reporters that Msando had been tortured and killed.

A private pathologist that the family had hired performed the postmortem at Lee Funeral Home in front of certain family members.