Omar Lali, the former boyfriend of the late Keroche Breweries heiress Tecra Muigai, has been summoned to attend in-person the inquest into her death.
On Thursday, March 11, Nairobi Magistrate Zainab Abdul also summoned six other individuals, all believed to be Lali’s relatives, to testify in the inquest.
The court ordered the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to facilitate their travel from Lamu County to Nairobi County or at least have Lali’s lawyer give his side of the story since he is adversely mentioned.
The six people are believed to have witnessed what caused the death of Tecra, the daughter of Keroche Breweries founder and Chief Executive Officer Tabitha Karanja, and they have refused to testify in the ongoing inquest.
The six have been identified as Qusai Lari Omar, Lali Bakari Mohammed, Abdul Hakina Lari Omar, Yaya Salim Mohammed, Ahmed Ali Sali and Mohammed Omar Muhanji.
On Thursday, an employee of Jaha House where Tecra allegedly fell to her death took to the stand to reveal the state of the townhouse in whichshe lived in following the incident.
Geoffrey Maliolo told the inquest that Lali told him to clean the house after he found blood on the stairs.
Maliolo said that when he arrived at 7.30 am on April 23, 2020, Tecra’s blood was fresh on the floor and had not clotted.
“When I was cleaning the floor I came across some water like madafu or urine split on the floor. I moved closer to the master bedroom where the duo used to sleep and knocked several times but there was no response,” said Maliolo.
After getting no response, Maliolo said he climbed to the second floor and noticed the blood on the curve of the staircase.
“I climbed up to the room, to the dining room lounge. There were three wine glasses and two ordinary glasses. They had some drinks in them,” said Maliolo.
There were also remains of a cocktail, wine, used cigarrete filters, khat and empty wine bottle, Maliolo revealed.
He said he left the room as it was and proceeded to the rooftop to check if Lali was there.
“They were not there. Tecra’s laptop was on the couch charging and there were empty Fanta bottles and wine glasses on the rooftop.
At the rooftop, Maliolo said he dialed Tecra’s phone but it went unanswered.
He said he called her number thrice while at the dining lounge and noticed that the phone was ringing from where they had (the six) sat opposite the entrance.
Maliolo said he picked it up as it was still ringing.
He said we went straight to the manager to inform him that he had seen bloodstains on the stairs of the visitor’s house and he hadn’t found them.
As they were heading to Jaha House with the manager, Maliolo said Lali called him on his phone and explained that they had a “small” accident and if we found blood on the house we should not be worried.
Lali, Maliolo said, told him they could go ahead and clean the rooms as usual.
Thereafter, Maliolo said he cleaned the fresh blood and then accompanied the manager to King Fahad Hospital where they found Lali with several other people.
“Omar told me to clean everything in the house,” said Maliolo.
The six Lali relatives are wanted to shed light on the state of Tecra at the time of the fall and when they carried her to the hospital after the alleged fall.
On Tuesday, March 9, when the state prosecutor dispatched a 14-seater bus to transport witnesses from Lamu to Nairobi, only two chose to attend the inquest.
“Only PW6, PW7 and PW8 volunteered to board the van. Six witnesses refused to attend,” said state counsel Peter Muia.
