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| The late Daniel Kyalo alias Kamsondo |
A sudden burst of gunfire one Thursday evening in March 2013 guaranteed a sudden end to the life of one Daniel Kyalo Mwanza.
A lone gunman shot once- on his head at point blank range. Police sources say the gun’s barrel was placed on his left chin and fired. Hawkers who witnessed the incident say the gunman walked to a nearby matatu and fled.
So audacious was the act that he was killed in broad daylight-5.30pm, meaning that his assassins were unwavering in winding-up his life.
By the time it was realized that a man had been shot, the gunman was long gone. A female companion of Kyalo who sat on the front seat of the Range Rover Sports was bruised on her abdomen by the bullet that was shot through Kyalo’s mouth, tearing through to hit her.
The shooting took place as Kyalo was crossing bumps on the road to the house in Golden Gate belonging to a woman known as Stella. Neighbours say Kyalo was a regular dweller in her house and would intermittently park two or three of his expensive cars at the house in his countless show-off rampages.Kyalo was a systematic, if not foreseeable visitant.
Within the South B area, and at high end shop Mr Price, where Kyalo was an overgenerous shopper Stella is referred to as his wife. Here Kyalo spent a fortune to shop for whoever it pleased him to parade his dough.
After being shot, his vehicle rolled on and veered off the road, stopping with a slight dent on the front.
Days after he was buried, the official account of his death is as a result of fatal shooting at the hands of car-jerkers. Speakers at his burial, much as they knew that the story had changed dared not mention the story of being executed.
But his assailant seemed to want nothing from him other than his life. It was initially claimed that he bumped onto the alleged robbers as they were attacking a woman motorist who was ahead of him, which allegation is now hogwash.
It is said that they flagged him down to stop and he declined, whereupon they opened fire at him. A day later police in Industrial area curiously said they had killed robbers who they believed are the ones who attacked Kyalo. Just how did they know who killed Kyalo?
It is hardly possible that there could have been two sets of attackers of Kyalo-one in a group and the other a lone gunman- all at the same time. Certainly one of the stories is false and when it is attributed to the police, then the likelihood is that the truth in the killing is being calculatingly masked. In the world skilled killers and especially where the police is concerned, investigations die when it is alleged that suspected perpetrators of a crime have been killed in a police shootout. This is what Human Rights groups commonly refer to as extra judicial killing, believed to be a daily event in Kenya.
But fresh accounts bring circumstances that do not tally with robbery acts. Eyewitnesses say it was a lone gunman who opened fire at point blank range with an unequivocal purpose of killing Kyalo. The gunman shot once and sauntered as the vehicle drifted to wherever.
They did not follow the vehicle to the 10 meters it drifted before stopping as they had apparently done their job. The injured woman was taken to hospital. Inside the vehicle, police said they recovered an expensive phone presumably belonging to Kyalo, his laptop and cash Sh 50,000.Other accounts claim it was Sh 29,000 He usually carried two aristocratic phones, according to confidants.
Those who know how the police work disbelieve that the amount declared was what was found in the vehicle. Nevertheless, there is the possibility that the cash was much higher as Kyalo was known to travel with bundles of cash bloated in his pockets or squirrelled somewhere in his car.
It means that the alleged thieves did not take anything other than his life. So how can they be thieves or car jerkers? Robbers seeking to seize anything by force still go for whatever they want. They are known to pull out dying victims or their corpses out of vehicles and drive off to the unknown or to get away. In a way, this killing has all the hallmarks of execution and transpires that the police are pursuing a murder investigation. No wonder when the family went for the car after his burial, police turned away the family, saying they were investigating an assassination.
Eyewitness accounts do not remember any other robbery incident that afternoon along the road to Plainsview.
Curiously, press reports the day after the attack were crafted to attribute the attack to gangsters who had allegedly accosted another motorist called Muthoni. The source of the information sounded so judicial that it spoke of ‘collaborated’ accounts of the alleged Muthoni and the then bruised female passenger of Kyalo.
Kyalo’s killing brings to two, sons of Machakos who have met their deaths in contentious conditions in the city. Two years ago the Proprietor of Tea Tot Hotel Abednego Kikuyu Makau was killed in a yet unsettled killing in Nairobi’s Haileselasie- Uhuru Highway round about.
So why would anyone kill Kyalo? The story of his entire life is so short. That of his working life is even shorter- yet in a span of the last seven years, he seemed to wallow in substantial amounts of money.
Hear his official eulogy: “Subsequent to completing high school, Dan got employed at Business Machines Kenya Limited as a sales representative in November 1993. He later joined Coca Cola (East Africa Bottlers) as a Merchandiser until the April of 1999. In the same month, He changed jobs to Castle Brewing Kenya Limited as a Sales Manager until 2000. His next position was Area Sales Manager at Eveready Batteries Kenya in June 2006. Dan then moved to Golden Lion batteries as a Dealer Sales Manager. Dan was an astute businessman and entrepreneur and he delved into varied business interests with great success”.
It is not documented what business in particular Kyalo was involved in. But he was an ever hectic man, shuttling between China, Mombasa, Kisumu and other towns by air and road. He took on a flamboyant life, driving top of the range, fast vehicles and momentarily took to the wanton lane of life, selecting whatsoever was flashy- both human and otherwise on his pathway.
True, he may have been deft in deals and socializing but unfeelingness and self-importance was his with equal dexterity. Thus when news of his death reached Machakos where he lived like a Prince, it was met with mixed reactions. Victims of his ego trips and brisk bravado went about their business as usual while his honchos dashed to Nairobi that evening.
For all his working life, he was a salesman. No doubt then a swift, dramatic changeover took place, discovering a secret goldmine which assigned him a steady glide that jammed him on that fateful evening. Detectives are piecing together Kyalo’s recognized and anonymous life in an effort to discover a clue as to why he was executed. They are probing if the death may have a link with his source of big, quick money.
Kyalo was building a hotel that may cost close to Sh 100m to complete near Machakos Academy and is said to have bought many pricy pieces of land in many parts of Kenya. Before he died, he told friends that some batteries to the tune of Sh 200m had been stolen and it was proving hard to trace them. Those close to him say he held prayer meetings within family circles over the loss.
Our investigations show however that Kyalo made a quick kill with the Golden Lion Batteries- between the China market, the port of Mombasa and his vast Kenyan market. It is believed that huge consignments of the batteries would pass through Mombasa without paying duty and the proceeds would then be his for the taking- and they were massive. So massive that he would leave the Port and begin shopping for an vehicle to drive upcountry. The man owned vehicles that may well be worth a total of Sh 80m that he parked in the many residences he resided.
Kyalo was born into a family of eight children 1972 in Mutuma village, Ngelani location to Charles Mwanza Kyalo and Mrs. Lydia Mathembo Charles. He went to Kituluni Nursery school between 1980 and 1981 and Kamuthanga Primary School from 1982 to 1989. He joined form one in Mua Secondary School, transferred to Tala High School where he completed form 4 in 1993.
Kyalo his wife Mrs Rose Wanjiru in 1996 and they married in 1997. They solemnized their wedding in 2000 at the AIC Bomani Church in Machakos town. They have a son Charles Mwanza and a daughter Winnie. He was eulogized thus:” Dan has been a loving husband to his wife Rose and a great father to Charles and Winnie. He has worked hard to provide for his family and members of his extended family. Dan impacted each of our lives profoundly in diverse and positive ways. He was like a breath of fresh air to many – a dynamo filled with ideas, passion, courage, energy, optimism and a positive approach to many, with wisdom and knowledge”.
