Former Juja MP George Thuo, a court ruled last year (2024), after a painstaking analysis of circumstantial evidence adduced by the prosecution, was poisoned to death at Porkies Club in Thika, where he had gone to unwind and kill time, on 17th November 2013. Lambda-Cyhalothrin, a fast-acting insecticide designed to disrupt the nervous system of an insect, causing paralysis and death, was the poison that was used to spike his drink. A post-mortem report revealed that the former legislator suffered intestinal and abdominal haemorrhage. Traces of the poison were found in his liver, kidney, the clothes he wore on that day, and the beer bottles from which he drank.
The shocker was that the poisoning was done by people he considered to be his close friends, who he thought had his best interests at heart and could trust with his life. An assumption that would prove fatal. It was a well-executed conspiracy involving 6 people, including Paul Wainaina Boiyo aka Sheki, the owner of Porkies Club. Lady Justice Roselyn Korir, in her ruling, dangled the possibility that the 6 acted at the behest of others who were not brought before the court.
George Thuo ventured into the rough and tumble world of politics in 2007, wresting the Juja parliamentary seat from William Kabogo on a Party of National Unity (PNU) ticket, and went on to serve as government chief whip in the National Assembly before Kabogo successfully challenged his victory in court, triggering a by-election in 2010. Yet it is in business that his real talents lay. GT, as he was fondly known, had a stint with the Kenya Bus Service (KBS), first as an accountant and later as a managing director, before bailing out in 2004 to start his own company, Citi Hoppa, which grew by leaps and bounds, taking the Matatu industry by storm.
On the material day, he called Paul Wainaina, a close friend, informing the Porkies Club owner that he was coming over to watch a Formula One race. A Formula One enthusiast and connoisseur, George Thuo relished the prospect of watching the likes of Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen engage in an adrenaline-pumping spectacle with friends. His wife heard him make the call. When he arrived at the club, he was joined by the club owner and three other men including the club’s two DJs and George Thuo’s former aide known as Christopher Lumbasio Andika. Andika had served as his campaign manager when he was running for the Juja parliamentary seat.
GT ordered two Tusker Lite beers as he engaged in a happy chat with his friends before a woman known as Vanessa Irungu came in, hugged him and allegedly bought him a drink as a sign of friendship. Moments later, Thuo complained of feeling hot due to a spike in body temperature and was sweating profusely. He was taken to an office in the club where he removed his shirt. The problem got worse and he was rushed to the Thika Nursing Home before being taken to Aga Khan, where he was pronounced dead upon arrival.
The judge ruled that the six accused, including the club waitress who served Thuo and the woman who bought him a beer, were part of a well-orchestrated plan to eliminate the former MP, quoting the popular Swahili proverb, ‘Kikulacho ki nguoni mwako’.
