Main suspect in Kware killings arrested

By Peter Ochieng

The main suspect linked to the killing and dumping of bodies and body parts within Kware dump site in Mukuru Kwa Njenga, Nairobi has been arrested.

He has been identified as Collins Jomaisi Khalisia, from Vihiga County. Reports indicate that the 33-year-old suspect was arrested at a club in Kayole on Monday morning.

He was found in possession of multiple sim cards. Khalisi allegedly dumped the body of his first victim, his wife in the quarry in 2022. He is suspected to have killed the victims, wrapped their bodies in polythene bags and dumped them in the quarry. 9 bodies and several body parts had been retrieved by Sunday, July 14, 2024.

Police say that he confessed to serial killings, with unconfirmed reports stating that he may have killed up to 42 women. Most of the bodies recovered are of women.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in a statement on Sunday said investigations into the murders will be thorough. “We want to assure the public that our investigations will be thorough and shall cover a wide range of areas, including but not limited to the possible activities of cultists and serial killings.”

“As the government deploys all necessary resources and manpower to expedite this investigation, we appeal to the members of the public to remain calm and give our detectives a chance to deliver justice to the victims of this horrendous scene,” added the statement from DCI.

The agency invited families, all interested parties, Law Society of Kenya (LSK), civil society organisations and human rights activists to participate in the postmortem exercise, to ensure that the investigations are carried out most transparently and openly.

In 2010, a suspected serial killer was arrested after killing 17 people, mainly women. Philip Onyancha, then aged 32 said he was recruited into a cult while at school by a teacher, who told him to kill 100 people and drink their blood for good fortune.

"My target was to kill 100 women. I managed 17 and there were 83 to go," he said. Onyancha led the police on a gruesome tour of the country, showing them the places in Nairobi, Central Province and Rift Valley where he said he murdered his victims.

He was set free over a year ago, for lack of evidence. Several cases of serial killings have since rocked the country, since Onyancha’s case came to the fore.