Double Murder: Nyambu Pushed the Kids into the Water
Pushed into the lake by their mother
The 31-year-old woman who drowned her two young children told a police hearing how she took them out to a jetty by the lake, and pushed both into the water at the same time.
- Elias said, “Mom, I want to go home, I do not want to swim,” she explained.
Four-year-old Elijah and his eight-year-old brother, Tevin, were found dead in the water at Munkholmen in Sigtuna on 19 September 2011. The day before, Elijah’s father, Carl-Gunnar Wiman, reported the two missing children.
“I could not take it anymore”
The boys’ mother was arrested the same day on suspicion of having killed her sons. On Wednesday this week, she was charged with murder.
During the first interrogation, she denied the crime and said she only heard a splash in the water, but had nothing to do with the children’s death. But then one day, the 31-year-old woman decided to admit.
- “I could not take it anymore. When we got to the jetty … the idea was that we were all going to die”, she said.
Could not care for them
The woman told how she had fought with her mother during a trip to Kenya and thereafter, began to increasingly feel mentally ill. At home in Sigtuna, debts piled up and the Swedish Enforcement Authority (Kronofogden) demanded payment for her apartment’s rent arrears. The telephone was disconnected and it became increasingly difficult to afford buying food. She lost her job in April and all her money had run out.
- “I felt that I could not take care of them. It would be easier if we all died. I had “Let Them Down.” I had lost all hope of taking care of them,” said the woman in police interrogations.
On 18th September 2011, at seven o’clock in the evening, she took the kids out for a walk. “I said that we would just look at the water.”
“Cried for ages”
First, she pushed the two boys from a jetty at the lake, but where they got hold of its edge and clung, she picked them up. She then took the two wet boys to another jetty.
- Elias said, “Mom, I want to go home, I do not want to swim,” she said in the interrogation.
From the jetty under which the children were later found, the mother pushed them both at the same time, into the water. During the hearing, the mother said that neither she nor the children could swim.
- “Tevin did not scream but Elijah cried for a long time. It was loud and he was screaming no, no, no,” said the mother. “I just stood there and cried. The idea was that I would jump in, but I did not dare.”
The 31-year-old woman has undergone a major psychiatric examination. The result shows that she was suffering from a severe mental disorder at the time of the killing, and even today, her situation is the same.
This is likely to mean that if the 31-year-old woman is convicted of murder, she will be sentenced to psychiatric care, and not prison.
Linda Hjertén
Deputy Chief Justice Ms Nancy Baraza Should Resign
Statement of Kenya Red Alliance (KRA)
Deputy Chief justice Nancy Baraza should srep aside to allow for credible investigations.
Deputy Chief Justice of Kenya, Ms Nancy Baraza, is reported to have brandished a gun in the face of Ms Rebecca Kerubo, a woman security guard at the Village Market, an up-market shopping mall in Nairobi. Kerubo had sought to search Baraza’s bag as part of routine security check of all visitors to the Mall but Baraza allegedly refused to be part of the process. If Kerubo’s version of events that followed are true, Justice Baraza should resign immediately or be forced out of Office through available channels.
After she refused to go through the security check, Ms Kerubo told reporters that she followed Baraza into the Mall and on noticing that the guard was trailing her, Baraza ordered her body guide to shoot Kerubo but the body guide refused, probably because there was no obvious justification for such a lethal and drastic action. There is no report that the guard had threatened the life of the Deputy Chief Justice.
Speaking to reporters, the guard said that Baraza “pinched her nose” and advised her to “know people”. The implication of Baraza’s utterance is that Ms Kerubo is ignorant about Baraza’s position as the Deputy Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya and therefore, the guard ought to upgrade her knowledge of top government officials like herself so that in future, she can exclude them from security checks at the Mall.
Based on the reported circumstances, and assuming that Kerubo’s version of the incident is correct, Baraza’s posture was not just shocking and irresponsible but also outrageous and utterly stupefying. Maybe, the matter could have ended there or treated as an unfortunate public confrontation between a top Judge and a lowly paid security guard.
This is because what has added considerable impetus to this rare altercation is that Justice Baraza reportedly rushed to her car and returned with a gun which she then brandished in Rebecca’s face. It was like Justice Baraza was sending the message that she actually had a gun but left it in the car and so she did not need to be searched after all!
Even if she never brandished a gun, and given her position, Baraza’s behavior at the level of refusing a mandatory security check at a public place was already an unacceptable violation of the new Kenyan constitution that clearly spells out the code of conduct for public officers at various levels.
The latest is that the embattled Baraza has tried to force the guard to accept an apology from her and when the guard refused, Ms Baraza reportedly said that the matter could proceed to court because since she is a lawyer, she will be able to deal with it. According to Ms Kerubo, the Judge said that if the matter proceeds to court, “the government will help her (Baraza)” win the case?
Another piece of news is that the Chief Justice, Dr. Willy Mutunga, has called for an internal investigation into the matter to establish the real facts behind the incident. Worse still, Baraza has released a statement denying that she ever brandished a gun in Kerubo’s face allegedly because she does not own a gun. This was after the police confirmed that Baraza is not licensed to carry a firearm.
Gestures of out-of-court settlement unacceptable
From a legal perspective, if Ms Baraza had a gun as Kerubo claimed, then the Deputy Chief Justice was in procession of an illegal firearm, leave alone the horrific crime of using such a weapon to threaten the life of an innocent citizen doing her job as per official specifications! At this juncture, it appears as though Kerubo’s version of events is much more credible than Baraza’s denials (especially on the gun angle) but much depends on what happens next.
If a credible investigation is conducted, it should be pretty easy to establish whether Baraza returned to her car and armed herself because the drama played itself in a public place where there must have been some eye witnesses. There is talk about CCTV footage where evidence could be contained but this footage may just be as important and revealing as eye witness accounts.
Kerubo did mention that a friend took a photo during the gun confrontation. What happens if this photo surfaces showing Baraza brandishing a pistol in Kerubo’s face? Even if evidence about the gun does not come to light, there is one more question hanging in the air.
If it can be established that the Judge walked to her car and returned, why did she do so? In any case, the Deputy Judge has accepted that there was a confrontation between her and the guard on the security check issue. This was after she refused to go through the process. This admission alone should be enough to force Ms Baraza out of Office if she cannot resign voluntarily because as the Deputy Chief Justice, it is unthinkable that she could have been arrogantly breaking established rules designed to increase security at a public place in the face of constant security threats from armed criminals.
Chief Justice, Dr. Mutunga, must ensure that there is no cover-up of the Baraza case Moi-style through shoddy investigations tailored to protect culprits in high office. Consequently, Ms Kerubo, members of her family and potential witnesses ought to be protected from threats that may be aimed at covering up the case.
In the meantime, Ms Baraza should step aside during the period of investigations to prevent her from interfering with this process. Public officers cannot effectively be investigated while in Office. Ms Baraza is under investigation for a possible violation of the Constitution and threatening the life of another Kenyan citizen. Under the circumstances, allowing her to remain in Office will be unacceptable.
If she does not step aside, the credibility of the investigations may be compromised especially if she is not found guilty. It has to be noted that Justice Baraza has been attempting an out-of-court settlement while information is in the media that she has sent emissaries to try and placate Ms Kerubo.
These kinds of gestures are unacceptable, given that Baraza is the Deputy Chief Justice of the Republic of Kenya and not a chicken thief in the village of Vihiga. If a public Officer of Baraza’s caliber can settle a criminal case (involving brandishing of an illegal firearm and threatening the life of a citizen) out of court, how will she dispense justice to the aggrieved in court?
While the investigations should continue as a matter of procedure, there is enough evidence on the table to instigate Justice Baraza’s ouster from public Office.
The unequivocal view of KRA is that the country will be back-sliding in the struggle against impunity if the likes of Baraza cannot step aside to allow for a credible investigation of an alleged crime that is, by all means, very serious.
Okoth Osewe,
Secretary,
Kenya Red Alliance (KRA)
About KSB
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