Waziri Mayai Wa Maradhi
Senior Member
- Jan 28, 2026
- 177
- 60
Imagine 24 years in Prison for not shooting, not talking, not writing anything, and for not reporting. This is the story of Sylvia Wanjiku. The police officer who saw nothing and said nothing.
June 23, 2016. Human rights lawyer Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda, and their driver Joseph Muiruri left Mavoko Law Courts after a routine hearing. Willie was winning a case against a police officer who had shot Mwenda without cause.
That officer, Fredrick Leliman, had them abducted on Mombasa Road and driven to Syokimau Police Post. They were locked in the cells.
Plan Double jeorpady was activated.
That night, all three were taken to a field and strangled. Their bodies were found in a river, 73 kilometres away. Willie's wrists were bound. His fingers had been chopped off. He was just 32.
The officer on duty at Syokimau that day was Sylvia Wanjiku. She held the keys to the cells. She was manning the Occurrence Book.
She did not record their names.
She did not raise an alarm.
She lied to investigators.
She just handed over the keys and said nothing.
Justice Lessit was clear: There is no way the deceased could have entered the cells without her releasing the key.
Before handing over the sentence, the Judge looked at them and told them:
SHONOKA
Leliman → Death sentence.
Cheburet → 30 years.
Sylvia Wanjiku → 24 years. For silence.
Ngugi (civilian) → 20 years.
You do not have to pull the trigger to be guilty of murder. When you hold the key, silence is a choice, and the law will treat it like one.
The Law is Very Clear
June 23, 2016. Human rights lawyer Willie Kimani, his client Josephat Mwenda, and their driver Joseph Muiruri left Mavoko Law Courts after a routine hearing. Willie was winning a case against a police officer who had shot Mwenda without cause.
That officer, Fredrick Leliman, had them abducted on Mombasa Road and driven to Syokimau Police Post. They were locked in the cells.
Plan Double jeorpady was activated.
That night, all three were taken to a field and strangled. Their bodies were found in a river, 73 kilometres away. Willie's wrists were bound. His fingers had been chopped off. He was just 32.
The officer on duty at Syokimau that day was Sylvia Wanjiku. She held the keys to the cells. She was manning the Occurrence Book.
She did not record their names.
She did not raise an alarm.
She lied to investigators.
She just handed over the keys and said nothing.
Justice Lessit was clear: There is no way the deceased could have entered the cells without her releasing the key.
Before handing over the sentence, the Judge looked at them and told them:
SHONOKA
Leliman → Death sentence.
Cheburet → 30 years.
Sylvia Wanjiku → 24 years. For silence.
Ngugi (civilian) → 20 years.
You do not have to pull the trigger to be guilty of murder. When you hold the key, silence is a choice, and the law will treat it like one.
The Law is Very Clear
