Kenya: ex-USIU-Africa student Duncan Kimathi sentenced to death over murder of Sarah Aruwa 14 years ago

Former United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa) student Duncan Livingstone Kimathi on Oct. 29, 2026 was sentenced to death in Kenya for the murder of his colleague, Sarah Akello Aruwa, in Kiambu County in 2012.

Justice Kanyi Kimondo handed down the sentence after finding the 37-year-old guilty of killing Akello between June 30 and July 1, 2012, in the Kiamako area of Githunguri.

The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) secured the conviction after the prosecution, led by Millicent Kigira, presented 17 witnesses to explain the circumstances surrounding Akello’s abduction, the ransom demands made to her family and her eventual murder.

The court found that Kimathi and his accomplices had lured Akello into a trap before abducting her and demanding money from her family. Justice Kimondo concluded that the circumstances surrounding the abduction and killing showed that the murder had been planned.

In his judgment, Justice Kimondo found that Kimathi had acted with malice aforethought, noting that Akello had been deliberately lured into a trap, abducted and held for ransom before being murdered.

The court consequently convicted Kimathi of murder, contrary to Section 203 as read with Section 204 of the Penal Code, and sentenced him to death.