A Safaricom senior manager has told a Nairobi court that call data records placed prime suspect Isaiah Murangiri within the central business district (CBD) at the time university student Rex Masai was shot dead during protests in June 2024.
Testifying before trial magistrate Geoffrey Onsarigo, Zachary Mburu, a senior manager at Safaricom, said the mobile operator had been served with court orders to provide call data records (CDRs) and location details for several mobile numbers under investigation between June 18 and 20, 2024.
Mburu told the court that one of Murangiri’s registered mobile numbers showed activity at St. Ellis House on June 20 at 11:20 a.m., and again between 3:56 p.m. and 6:21 p.m. The same number later appeared near Kencom House later that evening.
“On June 20, 2024, the number under the name of Isaiah Murangiri was active and showed multiple records within the CBD,” Mburu testified.
Another of Murangiri’s lines showed only a single SMS during the three-day period, but a third registered line generated 30 activity records between June 18 and 19. The data placed the suspect’s phone at Windsor House, Accra Road, and Corner House, with activity starting as early as 7:16 a.m. and continuing until 8:00 p.m.
The Safaricom manager also revealed that a number registered to Benson Thiru Kamau was traced to KBC Towers from 5:00 p.m. on the same dates, while a line under Michael Okello showed no activity on June 19.
Murangiri, during earlier cross-examination, claimed he was no longer using the number in question. However, Mburu clarified that Safaricom records still listed him as the registered owner of the active line at the time of the court order.
“The details presented before the court confirmed that on June 20, 2024, the number was under the name of Isaiah Murangiri, and it was active,” Mburu said.
Murangiri remains the prime suspect in the killing of Rex Masai, who died from a gunshot wound during anti-government protests in Nairobi. The case continues before Magistrate Onsarigo.
