Student’s dream for Africa cut short by muggers
Little is known about the killers of Jerry Isaac Mruma, one of the city’s latest mugging victims.
However, this much is certain to his family and friends: When he drew his last breath, a budding entrepreneur who dreamt of ending famine in Africa was no more.
Police reports show that together with his friends, Jerry, 23, a Tanzanian, was out celebrating the Tanzania Night Dinner at the Panafric Hotel on Saturday, November 16.
Shortly before he left the hotel at 11pm, he texted his girlfriend Mitchelle Ngele and told her the party had ended and he was on his way home.
That was to be his last communication. Panafric CCTV footage shows that he left alone on foot.
“I went to sleep and in the morning tried to call him, but his phone had been switched off. I could not reach him and got very worried,” said Mitchelle.
The next day NairobiNews got a report that the body of a young man clad in a suit had been found on Kenyatta Avenue, on a pedestrian walkway near the roundabout joining Uhuru Highway.
Identify the victim
Central OCPD Patrick Oduma said the body had deep cuts on the head and they could not identify the victim because there was no ID found on the body.
He had also been robbed of his shoes and beside his body was a paper written Lists of Attendants to the Tanzanian Association Dinner.
Three days later, in Tanzania, Jerry’s cousin Nelson Sadiki came across a Twitter update notifying the public about a missing person.
“I looked at the picture and saw that it was my cousin. I called his mobile phone immediately, but it did not go through,” he said adding that he later notified Jerry’s mother with whom they boarded the next flight to Nairobi to search for him.
On Thursday, a police officer told them to go to the City Mortuary to check on a body that fitted the description they had given in their reports. It was Jerry’s.
The family flew the body back to Tanzania and Jerry was buried on Tuesday.
However, even as they wait for their son’s killers to be put behind bars, his relatives said they could not help but wonder how many of his lofty dreams would have become a reality.
While still studying at the United States International University, Jerry founded the Kilimo Yetu company that provides investment opportunities in agriculture.