Dr. Clement Munyao Katiku, once a respected senior neurosurgeon at Kenyatta National Hospital, now spends his days behind the walls of Kamiti Maximum Security Prison, serving a life sentence for a crime he insists he never committed.
Katiku, who graduated with an MBChB from the University of Nairobi in 1980 and later earned master’s degrees in Human Medicine, Pathology, and Forensic Medicine, recalls a life dedicated to saving others.
“My hands were trusted in the operating theatre. My mind was sharp. My life was dedicated to healing,” he says.
That life changed in 2005, he explains, because of a decision he never imagined would cost him everything.
He bought a second-hand mobile phone for his daughter, then a student at Moi University. The Kshs 2,000 device, acquired from a mortuary attendant at KNH, was intended simply for her to stay in touch with family and friends.
Unbeknownst to him, the phone had belonged to Moses Gituma, a senior Central Bank official who had been murdered in a brutal robbery.
Police tracking the stolen device eventually arrested Katiku’s daughter’s boyfriend, who implicated her, leading investigators to Katiku.
“I bought this phone second-hand from someone I trusted at the hospital. I had no idea it was stolen, let alone connected to a killing,” Katiku told detectives.
Despite his full cooperation and absence of any direct evidence linking him to the murder—no confession, no fingerprints, no eyewitnesses—the courts relied on circumstantial evidence tied to the phone.
In 2009, he was convicted and sentenced to 30 years in prison. An appeal led to a death sentence, later commuted to life imprisonment through presidential clemency.
Over 20 years later, Katiku remains incarcerated. The mortuary attendant who sold the phone and the actual perpetrators were never fully prosecuted.
Even in prison, he has found ways to continue his work. Trained as a paralegal, he assists fellow inmates with legal matters and provides informal medical care to the sick.
“It’s the only way I know to keep my purpose alive,” he says.
Katiku’s story is a cautionary tale about the hidden risks of everyday choices. “Be careful with second-hand phones,” he warns. “What seems like a harmless bargain can unravel a life.”
From neurosurgeon saving lives to prisoner fighting for justice, Dr. Katiku continues to endure—and to heal where he can.