“I Was in the US”: MP Kimani Ngunjiri Denies Involvement in Joannah Stutchbury’s Murder

Bahati MP Kimani Ngunjiri has denied any involvement in the murder of renowned environment activist Joannah Stutchbury.

Ngunjiri, who was named as a person of interest in investigations, said he was in the United States when the 64-year-old conservationist was brutally killed by unknown assailants.

The MP vowed to take legal action against Environment Cabinet Secretary Keriako Tobiko for linking him to the murder of Stutchbury.

“I was not in any way involved in the murder of the environmentalist as claimed. I have never plotted harm on anyone. It was not fair for Tobiko to list me among the suspects without concrete evidence simply because we disagree politically,” Ngunjiri told the Nation.

He added: “At the time the murder was committed, l was in the US, where l had stayed for two months. How was I involved in a murder while I was so many miles away? How could I have planned it without leaving a trail of evidence?” 

The environmentalist was attacked by unknown assailants near her home in Thindigua, Kiambu County on July 15th.

Neighbors said she was driving home when she stopped her car to clear tree branches blocking her driveway when she was shot. 

Her body was found in the car with the engine still running and valuables still intact, suggesting the attack was not a robbery.

Stutchbury, who was known for her relentless efforts to protect Kiambu Forest from private developers, had received multiple death threats due to her campaign against encroachment. 

An autopsy revealed that Stuchburry was shot six times while trying to defend herself from her killers and died of excessive bleeding.

It emerged that Ngunjiri and Stuchburry had a confrontation before her brutal murder.

Appearing before the Senate Security Committee last month, CS Tobiko referred to a matter filed at Kiambu law courts in February 2018 where Agropack Limited, a company in which MP Ngunjiri is the director, sued the Kenya Forest Service (1st defendant) and Stuchburry (second) defendant for blocking its attempt to create a road that connects to the MP’s parcel of land namely LR no. 25009.

Ngunjiri admitted to owning a piece of land in the area and questioned why CS Tobiko singled him out. “There are so many people and companies that own land in the area around the forest. Why did Tobiko single me out?” he posed.

“I was shocked by his claims that l am a person of interest in the murder. The CS knows where he should take the claims. Let him take any evidence he has to the investigative agencies.”