MTRH Employee Escapes Death in Alleged Shooting by Enstrangled DCI Officer

 

 An employee at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in Eldoret is living in fear after a harrowing shooting incident allegedly orchestrated by her estranged boyfriend, a deputy officer with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) in Sotik, which nearly cost her life.

Grace Nduku Mwangagi, who has worked at MTRH for several years, says she narrowly escaped death after being shot in the left cheek, with the bullet exiting through her ear — the culmination of years of domestic abuse.

“We got together in March 2022 and we have a son, but for the longest time our union has been marred by domestic violence and hostility every time he got to drinking,” Nduku said tearfully. “We tried settling the matter with family members in the hope of protecting our marriage, but this nearly cost my life.”

She recounted that on the night of October 13, her boyfriend arrived home between 10 and 11 p.m. accompanied by a man dressed in boda-boda attire, who identified himself only as “John.”

“He said he had known my husband, Japin Nyachae, for a long time and wanted to help us resolve our differences,” she recalled. “But that night my boyfriend turned violent, slapped me several times, and hit me with blows. He pointed his gun at me three times and said he would kill me. I tried to hide behind John. Soon after, they stepped out, but as I followed them to close the door, my husband grabbed me by the gate and shot me.”

Bleeding profusely, she managed to crawl to safety and call her neighbours and colleagues, who rushed her to the MTRH Memorial Wing for emergency treatment.

Grace Nduku Mwangagi, the MTRH employee who survived a gunshot wound inflicted by her estranged boyfriend, is seen recovering after undergoing surgery at the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital theatre.[/caption]

“Luckily, the bullet went through my left ear without shattering any bone. I was saved — I’m lucky to be alive,” she said.

Before being taken to hospital, Nduku says she saw her husband and the man return to the scene to retrieve what she later learned were bullet fragments.

Now living under constant fear, Nduku says her boyfriend continues to perform his duties despite the attack. When she reported the matter at Kapsoya Police Station, she was told that her husband had also lodged a report at the Central Police Station, claiming he had “accidentally discharged a bullet.” The case has since been referred to the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (IPOA) under reference IPOA/CMU/3638/2025, and investigations are ongoing.

“I am living in fear. I’m the sole provider for my family, but I can’t work effectively as a lab technologist because I’m constantly afraid. I’m mentally troubled and fear anything could happen to me if this man is not held accountable,” Nduku said, appealing to the government and FIDA-Kenya for protection and justice.

Her case is the latest in a disturbing pattern of gender-based and intimate partner violence in Kenya — and even within the MTRH community.

In June 2024, Rael Cherop Biwott, a senior accountant at the same hospital, was brutally murdered by her husband, Francis Mwangi Ndirangu, a businessman in Eldoret. Her dismembered body parts were discovered in different locations across Uasin Gishu County. The gruesome case, which shocked the nation, remains ongoing in court.

According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and the 2022 Kenya Demographic and Health Survey (KDHS):

• Over 40 percent of Kenyan women aged 15–49 have experienced physical or sexual violence by an intimate partner.

• 41.1 percent of women report enduring intimate partner violence, with alcohol abuse and controlling behaviour by partners being major risk factors.

• Research by BMC Public Health (2024) links IPV prevalence to low education levels, economic stress, and societal tolerance of gender inequality.

• Between 68–77 percent of femicide cases in Kenya involve perpetrators known to the victim, most occurring in the victim’s home.

Rights groups say these statistics reveal a deepening crisis of violence within intimate relationships — one that demands urgent institutional response and cultural change.

Nduku’s case, now under investigation by IPOA, has reignited calls for accountability within the security sector and protection for survivors of gender-based violence.

“Justice must not only be done but be seen to be done,” said a human rights advocate in Eldoret. “When those tasked with enforcing the law become the perpetrators, it shakes public confidence in our justice system.”

As investigations continue, Nduku hopes her ordeal will not be in vain.

“I only want justice and safety for myself and my family. No woman deserves to live in fear in her own home,” she said quietly.