Homicide detectives have arrested Kennedy Kalombotole, the man believed to be behind the chilling ward murders at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), following the gruesome killing of a disabled patient earlier today.
Kalombotole, who had been admitted to the facility since December 1, 2024, is now the prime suspect in two separate murders at the hospital, the latest being the brutal slaying of Edward Maingi Ndegwa, a patient admitted to Ward 7B, Group C (Male) on July 11.
Edward was found dead around 2:00 p.m. on July 17, with blood seeping from his neck, just an hour and a half after a relative had visited and left him in a stable condition. A cleaner first spotted the blood, prompting an emergency response that led investigators straight to Kalombotole’s bedside.
Detectives traced a trail of bloody slipper prints from Ndegwa’s bed to a nearby toilet and eventually to a side room where Kalombotole was admitted. Inside, investigators recovered a pair of blue slippers, a blood-stained bedsheet, and outside on the ground beneath the ward’s window, a knife wrapped in gloves — believed to be the murder weapon.
All evidence has been forwarded to the National Forensic Laboratory for analysis.
More disturbingly, Kalombotole has also been linked to the unsolved February 7, 2025, murder of 40-year-old Gilbert Kinyua Muthoni, who was found dead with a slit throat in Ward 7C. A case file was compiled back then and submitted to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP), which had requested further inquiries — inquiries that now appear to be bearing fruit.
Kalombotole is currently in custody and will be arraigned once the ODPP is satisfied with the strengthened case.
The back-to-back murders at KNH — Kenya’s top referral hospital — have raised serious questions about patient safety, internal surveillance, and psychiatric screenings of admitted individuals. As Kenyans demand accountability, pressure is mounting on hospital management and the Ministry of Health to explain how such heinous acts occurred under their watch.
