This archive report was first published on 15 June 2021.
On June 15, 2021, a Kajiado law court resident magistrate made a ruling that would change the course of justice for the family of 8-year-old Shantel Nzembi.
Shantel went missing on May 29, 2021, and her body was later discovered in a gunny bag at Orata area. Detectives from the Director of Criminal Investigations (DCI) concluded that Nativity Mutindi, 27, was holding Shantel at her house and had kidnapped her from an apartment at Kitengela.
According to the DCI, Mutindi was positively identified as the person who kidnapped Shantel, and her body was discovered 200 meters from a bodaboda stage where Livingstone Makacha, a 27-year-old Kitengela-based bodaboda rider, is based.
Makacha was arrested for being in possession of the mobile phone that kidnappers used to demand a ransom of KES 300,000. However, he claimed to have collected the phone from the scene when police collected Shantel's body, but he failed to provide proof of which other mobile phone he previously used.
Patrick Mureithi, a 28-year-old Kitengela-based Airtel agent, was also implicated in the case. Detectives say Mureithi unlawfully registered the SIM card that was used by kidnappers to demand the ransom, well knowing that the person who sought to register it was not the owner of the identity card presented.
Francis Mbuthia, 42, who was arrested at Kiserian after his identity card was used to register the SIM card, has since been released after it was established that he lost his identity card and had reported the matter at Ngong police station.
Shantel was buried on June 12, 2021, at Mwale village, Mwala subcounty, Machakos County. Her mother, Christine Ngina, and her family remained upbeat that justice would prevail, saying they were satisfied with the detectives' investigations into the matter.
