The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) has formally charged politician Rose Mbithe Ndeti and her two children, advocates Chris Mulwa and Angela Mulwa, with the murder of psychiatrist Dr Victoria Nthunya Mutiso.
The murder case was registered at the Nairobi High Court after the DPP approved the application to formally charge the three suspects. The prosecution alleges the trio, acting jointly with others not yet before the court, murdered Dr Mutiso on July 29, 2026, along Mawensi Road in Kilimani, Nairobi County.
Lawyer Angela Mulwa was re-arrested outside Milimani Law Courts on Monday after Senior Resident Magistrate Joan Mati approved the DPP’s application to transfer the murder case to the High Court.
The rearrest came just days after the High Court granted Angela and her co-accused a cash bond of Ksh1 million each, allowing them temporary freedom after they were arraigned over allegations of possessing a stolen Range Rover Sport valued at Ksh15 million.
Angela’s defence team, led by city lawyer Danstan Omari, opposed the state’s bid to have the case moved to another court, insisting it should continue before the current judicial officer.
“My client has already presented herself before the court and is out on bond,” Omari argued. He questioned the move to transfer the matter, saying it could affect her ability to represent her clients in a related case.
Defence questions expired investigation timeline
Omari urged the State to present a properly drafted charge sheet on Tuesday, noting that the court had allowed investigators 21 days to complete their probe but the period had elapsed without substantive evidence being presented.
“The state was granted 21 days to do the investigation. We expect the state to come tomorrow with the charges. I don’t know which court it is in, but they were granted 30 days,” Omari stated.
He added: “This has two files. So we completely object to that application. But this file be prematurely be transferred before you apply your mind into the evidence that we have.”
Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Jalson Makori said the decision to charge followed the conclusion of preliminary investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations into Dr Mutiso’s death. Following the decision to charge the three suspects, the DPP withdrew an application seeking additional days to detain Angela Mulwa pending investigation completion.
Land dispute at centre of investigation
Mutiso, a psychiatrist and former Director of the African Institute of Mental and Brain Health, was fatally shot in Nairobi on July 29, 2026. The court heard that preliminary investigations established Dr Mutiso was involved in a land dispute pending before a court in Machakos.
According to DCI Director Mohamed Amin, investigators believe the killing was motivated by a long-standing land dispute over parcel LR No. 1504/13 in Athi River, where Dr Mutiso had placed a caveat.
“That action was perceived as a direct threat to the interests of certain parties involved in the ownership and control of the property,” Amin said.
Investigators say Rose Mbithe is the former wife of Mutiso’s husband, David Musyimi Ndetei, having divorced in 2001 after having four children together, including Chris and Angela. The defence has disputed any suggestion that Rose had a revenge motive arising from the divorce more than two decades ago.
Before her death, Mutiso had reported an incident in which two armed individuals riding a motorcycle allegedly confronted her while she was driving in Nairobi. On July 7, she reported that two men on a motorcycle had followed her along Ngong Road near Junction Mall, where a pillion passenger pointed a firearm at her and attempted to shoot her.
She managed to escape and later reported the incident at Kilimani Police Station. According to investigators, Dr Mutiso allegedly identified the pillion passenger as Chris before her death. Following that incident, she stopped using her personal vehicle and began travelling by taxi.
The DCI said the decision to charge the three suspects was based on evidence gathered during the investigations linking them to the alleged offence.
What happens next
The three accused are expected to take a plea at the Nairobi High Court on a date yet to be announced by the court registry. The prosecution is required to disclose all evidence to the defence team within 14 days of the plea hearing, as per the Criminal Procedure Code.
If the case proceeds to trial, the court will hear from key witnesses, including forensic experts, ballistics analysts, and officers from Kilimani Police Station who handled Mutiso’s earlier threat report. The land dispute at Machakos court may also feature as contextual evidence, though the murder trial will focus primarily on the events of July 29, 2026.
The accused remain entitled to the presumption of innocence unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
