This archive report was first published on 15 September 2019.
On July 12th, 2019, Tob Cohen, a 71-year-old Dutch tycoon living in Nairobi, wrote to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji, expressing his deep-seated fears for his life.
According to Sunday Nation, Cohen's letter, which was also copied to the Inspector-General of Police, highlighted how his love life had become his greatest fear.
“Unless your offices act speedily and accordingly, our client will continue to suffer humiliation, discrimination, and persecution because he is not a Kenyan national, which is wrong, distasteful and unfortunate,” the letter sent through Musyoki Mogaka and Co advocates stated in part.
Cohen claimed that his estranged Kenyan wife, Sarah Wairimu Kamotho, who is the prime suspect in his murder, enjoyed the protection of senior police officers.
He alleged that Wairimu was colluding with senior police from Westlands to charge him with assault, which could have led to his deportation, despite being the real victim of assault by his estranged spouse.
This was not the first time Cohen had written to Kenyan authorities expressing fears for his life; Sunday Nation reported that it was the second such letter.
Tragically, Cohen's body was found inside an underground water tank at his home in Nairobi's Kitusuru estate on Friday, July 26th, 2019, a week after he went missing on July 19th.
Wairimu was subsequently arraigned before a Nairobi court on Thursday to face murder charges, but the judge ordered her to undergo a mental assessment before taking a plea.
A second suspect, Peter Karanja, who is the estranged husband of Gilgil MP Martha Wangari, is also in police custody.
