A Machakos High Court has sentenced Congolese national Christian Baledi Kadima to 40 years in prison for the murder of Nairobi lawyer and human resource consultant Elizabeth Koki Musyoki, bringing to a close one of Kenya’s most disturbing intimate partner violence cases. Justice Francis Rayola Olel imposed the sentence after finding that the prosecution had proved beyond reasonable doubt that Kadima murdered the 34-year-old advocate inside her Syokimau home on the night of January 7, 2021.
Musyoki, an advocate of the High Court of Kenya, corporate legal adviser and founder of Koki & Associates HR Law Consultants, had built a successful career in employment and labour law while raising her two children. Court proceedings heard that she met Kadima, a fitness instructor from the Democratic Republic of Congo, at a Nairobi entertainment venue in November 2019 before the two entered into a relationship that later became marred by repeated allegations of abuse.
Evidence presented during the trial showed that in September 2020, Musyoki reported Kadima to police after he allegedly assaulted her during an argument in Kiambu County. She sought medical treatment, recorded a police statement and enrolled in self-defence classes after learning from another former partner about his alleged history of violence. Although Kadima later apologised and proposed marriage, Musyoki remained cautious and only allowed him into her Syokimau home with her permission.
The court heard that the relationship turned fatal after Musyoki confronted Kadima over photographs of another woman found on his mobile phone. Prosecutors said the confrontation escalated into a violent struggle inside her bedroom, where Kadima overpowered and suffocated her with pillows, causing her death by asphyxia.
A domestic worker testified that she heard a loud disturbance before seeing Kadima hurriedly leave the house in Musyoki’s vehicle. The following morning, after Musyoki failed to leave her bedroom as usual, the worker found her lifeless and immediately alerted family members and police.
Investigators from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations processed the scene, while Government Pathologist Dr. Johansen Oduor concluded that Musyoki died from suffocation. The post-mortem also revealed injuries to her neck, mouth and inner lips, findings consistent with a violent struggle.
Police later established that Kadima fled in the victim’s vehicle before abandoning it in Nairobi in an apparent attempt to evade arrest. Detectives tracked him to a Nairobi lodging, where he had checked in using a false identity, and arrested him less than 24 hours after Musyoki’s body was discovered.
Kadima was charged with murder on January 25, 2021. During the trial, he denied intentionally killing Musyoki, claiming she sustained fatal injuries after falling from a bed during an argument. However, prosecutors Dennis Mang’are and Mary Otulo called 14 witnesses and presented forensic, medical and circumstantial evidence, including testimony from the domestic worker, post-mortem findings, crime scene exhibits and evidence of Kadima’s attempt to flee.
Justice Olel convicted Kadima on March 27, 2025, before sentencing him to 40 years in prison after considering a pre-sentence probation report. In his ruling, the judge described the killing as a brutal act of intimate partner violence committed in the victim’s own home, saying the sentence reflected the gravity of the offence and the need to protect society from such crimes.
The verdict is expected to reinforce calls for stronger action against gender-based violence and intimate partner killings, which continue to claim the lives of women across Kenya.
