A chilling and well-coordinated assassination in Nairobi has claimed the life of one of Kenya's most respected mental health researchers. Dr Victoria Nthunya Mutiso, a renowned scholar and director at the Africa Institute of Mental and Brain Health (AFRIMEB), was shot dead during her morning commute on what appeared to be a carefully planned attack.
The fatal shooting occurred at around 9 a.m. at the junction of Mbagathi Link Road and Mawenzi Road. According to eyewitnesses who watched the tragic incident unfold, a Toyota Prado was already parked at the busy intersection when the Uber vehicle carrying Dr Mutiso arrived and stopped alongside it.
Moments later, a motorcycle carrying three men pulled up to the vehicle. One of the assailants allegedly opened fire at close range, shooting Dr Mutiso twice in the head before the attackers fled on the motorcycle. The white Toyota Prado also sped away immediately after the shooting.
In a desperate race against time, the Uber driver rushed the critically injured scholar to the Kenyatta National Hospital Emergency Centre.
However, Dr Mutiso was pronounced dead on arrival. Her body has since been moved to the hospital mortuary, where it awaits a post-mortem examination to determine the exact cause of death.
The Directorate of Criminal Investigations has launched an intensive manhunt to track down the shooters. Police say investigations are at an advanced stage as detectives pursue the assailants, who remain at large.
The Uber driver who was transporting Dr Mutiso has been taken into police custody and is currently being questioned as investigators review CCTV footage to trace the movements of both the motorcycle and the Toyota Prado that were used in the attack.
Investigators have also visited Dr Mutiso's home in Riara, where they interviewed her husband and colleagues as they seek to establish a motive for the brazen killing. Ballistic experts recovered two spent cartridges from inside the Uber vehicle, which has been detained as a key exhibit in the investigation.
A significant line of inquiry centres on reports that Dr Mutiso had previously complained of receiving direct threats to her life. According to investigators, she had reported these threats at Kilimani Police Station before the matter was referred to Satellite Police Station under Dagoretti Division for investigation. Detectives are now working to establish whether these earlier threats are connected to her killing.
As part of their investigation, police are also examining mobile phones belonging to both Dr Mutiso and the Uber driver in an effort to reconstruct their movements and communications in the hours leading up to the fatal shooting.
The case has shocked Kenya's academic and research community, with many mourning the loss of a distinguished scholar whose work in mental and brain health had made significant contributions to the country.
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