Third suspect arrested over the murder of lawyer Kyalo Mbobu
Lawyer Kyalo Mbobu
Detectives arrested Noah Kipkirui Langat, a boda boda rider suspected of conducting surveillance on lawyer Mathew Kyalo Mbobu before he was fatally shot on Magadi Road on September 9, 2025.
Langat’s arrest follows those of constable Julius Cheruiyot, suspected of being the gunman, and Nicholas Lemiso Naula, the boda boda rider suspected of ferrying him to and from the scene.
With three suspects now in custody, detectives are intensifying the hunt for other persons suspected to have played a role in the meticulously planned killing.
Langat was traced to Pangani police cells on Thursday evening where he had been detained over a traffic offense. He is also a bodaboda rider in the city.
This brings to three, the number of suspects in custody over murder of the lawyer.
Mbobu was trailed and shot dead in his car as he drove to his Bogani residence in Karen.
Officials said the arrest came after some of the suspects arrested in the murder of psychologist Dr Victoria Mutiso confided to the detectives on the role played by the constable of police attached to Nairobi Area.
Without the constable’s knowledge, the detectives who have been handling the murder picked his official pistol that he had been issued with on the day Mbobu was murdered and sent it for ballistic tests.
On Thursday, the tests turned positive. This prompted police to arrest Cheruiyot over the murder.
Mbobu, a former chairman of Political Parties Disputes Tribunal was shot and killed on September 9, 2025 at about 5.30 pm.
Mbobu had represented Dr Mutiso’s husband, Prof David Ndetei, in legal proceedings.
Dr. Mutiso, a former Director of the African Institute of Mental and Brain Health, was fatally shot on July 29, 2026, in Upper Hill, Kilimani Sub-County, Nairobi, while inside a motor vehicle.â¨The DCI has also identified a land dispute involving Dr. Mutiso as a possible motive for the killing.â¨Investigators said the deceased was involved in a dispute over L.R. Number 1504/13, which is the subject of a case before the Machakos court.â¨Investigators also said Dr. Mutiso had previously reported that someone had attempted to kill her and that she had been followed before the fatal shooting.â¨The DCI said that on July 7, 2026, Dr. Mutiso reported being confronted by two armed men riding a motorcycle near Junction Mall along Ngong Road in Nairobi.â¨The men pointed a gun at her but she managed to escape and later reported the incident at Kilimani Police Station.
On Thursday, Director of Criminal Investigations Mohamed Amin said they had made a breakthrough in the murder of Kyalo.
He said following an intensive and painstaking investigation over the past year, detectives identified and arrested Police Constable Julius Cheruiyot of Nairobi Area, suspected of being the gunman who fatally shot the lawyer.⨓As part of the ongoing investigations, defectives today recovered the Ceska pistol that had been issued to the suspect at the time of the incident. Ballistic examination has since confirmed that the firearm was indeed used in the shooting that claimed the life of Lawyer Mbobu. The finding provides a significant forensic breakthrough in the investigation and further strengthens the evidentiary trail being assembled by detectives,” he said.
He added detectives had also established that Inspector Kenneth Sang, who is currently at large, allegedly coordinated the operation in liaison with Rose Mbithe, who is already in police custody in connection with the murder of Dr. Mutiso, who was fatally shot on July 29, 2026 in Upper Hill, Nairobiâ¨The DCI immediately commenced investigations, with specialised teams from the Homicide Directorate, working alongside forensic experts, undertaking extensive investigations to reconstruct the events surrounding the killing.
They will be presented in court pending further investigations
