The Suspicious Death of Kenya’s First Chief Justice and His Private Investigator

In 1986 , Nyiva Mwendwa secretly hired private detective JR Odhiambo Obalo  to investigate the death of her husband Kitili Mwendwa in a suspicious  road accident.

That same year, Obalo also died in a suspicious road accident while carrying out investigations.

Nyiva was becoming frustrated that despite the government announcing that it would leave no stone unturned, the investigations had grounded to a halt, pointing to a much bigger conspiracy to hide the truth.

Her husband Kitili Mwendwa served as Kenya’s first African Chief Justice after independence. Before then, he had served as  Jaramogi Oginga Odinga’s permanent secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Because of this, he became very close to Jaramogi Oginga Odinga and even kept in contact with him after he resigned as vice-president to form Kenya  People’ Union (KPU). But this became the source of his downfall.

In 1969, after the bitter exchange between Oginga Odinga and  Jomo Kenyatta during the opening of the New Nyanza Provincial Hospital, now known as JOOTRH, the government launched a crackdown on the KPU. All the senior officials of the party led by Jaramogi Oginga Odinga were arrested and detained.

When Odinga was released in 1971, after serving 18 months in prison, he telephoned his old friend Kitili Mwendwa, who was then serving as Chief Justice. He wanted  an appointment with him.

What Kitili didn’t know was that his landline had been bugged and all his conversations listened to by the Special Branch. He came to this realisation when Attorney General Charles Njonjo called him the following day and warned him about hosting Jaramogi Oginga Odinga, who was being viewed as a dangerous opposition figure.

According to an interview Nyiva later gave to the Nation, her husband Kitili returned home that day   and expressed fear that his conversations were being monitored but vowed to meet Jaramogi. The meeting went on as planned, much to the chagrin of  Kenyatta’s gatekeepers.

It didn’t take long before Kitili’s name was mentioned in the 1971 coup plot. It was alleged that as Chief Justice, the plotters had allocated him the role of  swearing in Major General Ndolo in case the plot succeeded. It has always been my fear that the coup plot was exploited by those close to power to settle political scores.

Nevertheless, Kitili was forced to resign with no charges preferred again him. He retreated to a quiet life until 1984, when he vied for Kitui West parliamentary seat and won. Unfortunately, he died the following year in a suspicious road accident.

Even though the government instituted an inquiry, it was a wild goose chase exercise meant to hoodwink those concerned about Kitili’s death. Realising that it was an exercise in futility, Nyiva decided to hire private JR Odhiambo Obalo.

Obalo was a consummate Special Branch detective who had risen to the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police before retiring in November 1982.

He was among Kenya’s first crop of  detectives and had trained in Britain and at the FBI Academy in the US. He also served as the commandant of CID training school.

After he exited  the police in November 1982, he became a well-known private detective. It was against this backdrop that Nyiva contacted him in 1986  to carry out private investigations on the suspicious death of her husband. 

Obalo had already discovered a lot in the course of his investigations when he was hit by a car near his  racecourse residence and died at Aga Khan Hospital on 29 December 1986.

Nyiva believed the death of Obalo was simply a chilling warning to her. Fearing for her life, she stopped pursuing justice for her husband.