Prominent lawyer Mathew Kyalo Mbobu was gunned down in a brazen drive-by shooting on Tuesday evening, sending shockwaves through Kenya’s legal community. The 30-year veteran advocate was driving home along Magadi Road in Karen when a gunman on a motorcycle pulled up and fired at close range. Mbobu, found slumped in his vehicle in a pool of blood, succumbed to two gunshot wounds confirmed by autopsy. Government pathologist Johansen Oduor noted gunpowder burns, indicating an execution-style killing.
The assailant fled the scene, but detectives have identified suspects, with some in custody. The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) condemned the attack as a “premeditated assassination.” LSK President Faith Odhiambo highlighted the rising threats to lawyers, urging swift justice. Senate Speaker Amason Kingi, a former student, mourned his mentor as a “distinguished advocate and public servant.”
Beyond his legacy as a lecturer at the University of Nairobi and former chair of the Political Parties Dispute Tribunal, Mbobu’s death reveals a complex web of financial woes. Investigations reveal he was drowning in massive debts, blacklisted by banks for loan defaults, and accused of withholding client funds.
Court records show multiple lawsuits against Mbobu for unpaid loans from shylocks, microfinance firms, and payday lenders. Interest rates ballooned debts to ten times the original amounts, trapping him in a cycle of desperation. Sources close to the probe suggest betrayal by associates fueled the crisis. Mbobu had turned to high-risk lenders after traditional banks shut him out.
A recent meeting with “persons of interest” hours before his death is now under scrutiny via CCTV and phone data.
Makueni Senator Dan Maanzo linked the murder to Mbobu’s high-stakes land and money cases, warning of escalating insecurity. “These assassins are emboldened,” echoed Nyando MP Jared Okello.
