“Mtoto wangu alikuwa mwizi” – Mother of suspect in Eric Maigo murder speaks

The mother of the main suspect in the murder of the Nairobi Hospital acting Finance Director Eric Maigo has said that her daughter is not a killer.

She, however, complained that her daughter, on several occasions was engaged in thievery activities.

On the fateful day that the daughter left home and ended up at Maigo’s home, the mother of the suspect said:

“Nikamwambia hautakaa zaidi hapa nitakupeleka kwa Chief ndio wakuulize vizuri useme ukweli ndio wakuulize ni nini ilikufanyikia ndio unitokee kwa nyumba usiku. Kitu yenye nataka tu ujuwe niende nireport wewe ni mtoto wangu msichana lakini umeanza kunikosea,”she said.

(I told her that she would not continue to stay in my house unless we went to the Chief so that she could tell the truth about where she was that night. I wanted her to say what had happened to her that she had gone missing at night. I told her she was my daughter and she had started going astray)

The mother went on to narrate many instances her daughter got involved in thievery activities.

She said that at some point, her daughter came with a bag full of clothes from an unknown place.

At the time, she had to trace the source only to establish that she had stolen from the Toi market, Kibera area in Nairobi.

When her conduct became unbearable, the mother revealed that her sister took custody of her and enrolled her in a school in Rairu.

However, after some days, the sister’s family called her to inform her that she had stolen Ksh19,000 from the school.

“Walisema mtoto alitoka kwa nyumba asubuhi na akaenda kwa shule alikua anasomea, akapata walimu vizuri na akawasalimia. Walimu wanasema aliwasalimia wakaona mtoto ametoka kwa gate. Kidogo wanasema mtoto alirudi akaingia kwa ofisi ya walimu akaiba Sh19,000.”

Prior to that, the mother revealed that the suspect at some point got a sponsor who enrolled her into Olympic Primary School.

Shockingly, she says the daughter hardly attended the school.

More often, she disguised herself that she was going to school only to loiter in the streets and come back home claiming that she was at school.

“Mtoto kusoma kufika class four alianza kunishinda. Alikua anaenda shule vizuri lakini kumbe akifika kwa njia alikua anatoa uniform anaweka kwa bag anaenda kurandaranda Toi Market, anarudi usiku. Usiku ukimuuliza ametoka wapi anasema ametoka shule kumbe ata hiyo shule hakufika,” she said,

The suspect was arrested on Tuesday night and has been detained for 21 days pending investigations.

Police said the suspect, a minor believed to be between 15 to 17 years old, has been on the run since last week Thursday.

She was arrested in Kibera slums, Nairobi in an intelligence-led operation by Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) detectives.

Maigo was discovered with 25 stab wounds at his Woodley Estate residence last week.