A Rwandan woman and her brother were charged with conspiring to kill her Swiss boyfriend.
Antoinette Uwineza, also known as Dardeh PM Kasswen had a life sentence for another murder overturned on appeal in 2020.
She was charged with conspiring with her brother Eddy Kwizera to kill Helbling Guico Paul. The siblings were also accused of conspiring to steal 850 euros (about Sh146,489) and other valuables. Uwineza and Kwizera, who are represented by lawyer John Swaka, were released on a cash bail of Sh200,000 each with one surety, pending the mention of the case on January 27.
Uwineza was jailed for life on November 1, 2018 by then High Court Judge Jessie Lesiit (now a Court of Appeal judge) after the court ruled that she had killed her love rival Winnie Uwambaye and her seven-month-old baby, over a boyfriend of European descent.
They denied the charges before Milimani Chief Magistrate Lucas Onyina after being charged with conspiracy to commit murder and preparation to commit an offence on December 30, 2023 at Brookside area in Westlands Nairobi.
Uwineza was arrested by undercover detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) on December 30, 2023. She had allegedly lured Paul to a city shop on the pretext of selling him gold.
Uwineza, her brother and others not in court were found with two kitchen knives, one litre of chloride exide battery acid, two black polythene paper bags, four surgical hand gloves and six Nitrest 10mg tablets, which
investigators believe were to be used in the murder.
She was arrested by undercover Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives from Central Nairobi after she had lured the foreigner into the country on the pretext of selling him gold.
She later planned to kill him and take over his money. She was arrested on December 30 as she led a group of hit men to a hotel she planned to kill her Swiss boyfriend in Nairobi’s Westlands area.
The woman and her brother were also carrying a jerrycan full of acid which they planned to douse the body with once the man was dead. The man from Switzerland had arrived in Nairobi on December 26 and was booked to a hotel in Westlands and was to check out on December 31.
On December 29, the woman aged 43 and who according to police stayed at Ngara approached a hit man seeking help to eliminate the foreigner.
The man who had been approached got jittery and approached police. An undercover team of two was arranged for the mission and met the woman in Ngara on December 30 to plan the way forward.
According to police, the woman told them the Swiss man had 850 Euros. She informed them that before the foreigner is killed he must transfer all the money to her account. She also produced a bank statement showing that from March 17, 2023 to June 10, 2023 she received Sh9.2 million from the said foreigner.
After deliberations the undercover officers agreed with the lady on the terms of engagement which included equal sharing of the money realized after the murder of the foreigner.
The suspect requested the female undercover officer to help her with a fake photo for the purpose of making a fake identity card that will be used to rent an apartment where the mission will be carried out.
The fake identity card was made in the name of Sarah Nafula Masika.
On December 30 night, the female undercover officers accompanied by the suspect and her brother aged 25 went to Westlands to hire an apartment and thereafter the suspect invited the foreigner for dinner in the said house.
As they were proceeding to the said house other DCI officers who were waiting pounced on the suspects and arrested them.
A search was conducted in her house in Ngara but nothing was found, an indication that she had either planned to shift from the house or leave the country.
Judge Lesiit then ruled that the accused deliberately killed her friend and her seven- month-old baby “with malice and in a brutal manner”.
However, in September 2020, the Court of Appeal reversed the ruling, saying Uwineza’s sentencing was arrived at without the prosecution proving beyond any reasonable doubt that the convict killed Uwambaye.
Uwambaye’s lifeless body was on February 16, 2013 found at Saharan Lodge on Duruma Road in Nairobi. The 42-year-old had been strangled with a polythene bag, and her body wrapped in bed sheet.
Uwineza was arrested in Kayole while using the deceased’s phone. She was arrested together with her male friend who was later acquitted over lack of evidence.
Three Appellate court judges -Martha Koome, Hannah Okwengu and Fatuma Sichale -however, overturned the lower court’s ruling, saying: “The circumstantial evidence relied upon to convict Antoinette did not meet the required standards as it neither led irresistibly to her guilt nor was it compatible with her innocence.”
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