The Suspect, Kennedy Kalombotole
What unfolded inside Ward 7B at Kenyatta National Hospital reads like a sequence no hospital system ever expects to confront — two patients killed in their beds by a man who had been living among them for years without a clear identity.
The first killing happened in the dead of night on February 6, 2025. The ward was quiet, dimly lit, and filled with critically ill patients too weak to react to anything happening around them.
Gilbert Kinyua, a 39-year-old father who had been admitted on December 11, 2024, was asleep as he battled a severe brain condition that had kept him hospitalized for 58 days.
Investigators say Kennedy Kalombotole moved through the ward unnoticed.
He stopped at Gilbert’s bedside, leaned over him, and suddenly pulled his head back before slashing his throat with a kitchen knife.
Gilbert woke up in terror. In those final moments, he struggled violently, trying to hold onto life as blood soaked his bed and floor.
His movements weakened, then slowed, before finally stopping altogether. He died in the same bed where he had been receiving treatment.
Ward 7B, known as a cube ward, housed patients in critical condition. Many were immobile or heavily sedated, unable to call for help or defend themselves.
The environment meant even witnessing an attack would not translate into a response.
For months, the incident remained under investigation. CCTV footage reportedly offered little clarity due to blind spots and technical gaps.
The attacker had not forced entry — he was already inside the system.
Five months later, on July 17, 2025, a similar tragedy unfolded in the same ward.
The victim this time was Edward Maingi Ndegwa, a physically disabled patient who had been admitted only days earlier on July 11.
Authorities say Kalombotole again approached quietly at night, repeated the same method, and attacked with identical precision.
Edward briefly fought for his life, reacting instinctively as blood poured from his neck. His struggle, however, faded quickly. Moments later, he was gone.
The back-to-back killings shocked hospital staff and investigators. It also turned attention toward Kalombotole himself — a man who had been living inside Kenyatta National Hospital since around November 2022.
Records indicate he was first brought in as an unidentified, homeless patient suffering from diabetes and seizures. Over time, he drifted between wards and temporary discharges, but repeatedly returned.
To hospital records, he remained “an unknown African male” with no documented family or identity.
His presence inside the hospital for years raised difficult questions after the killings: how a man with no verified identity moved freely in and out of critical care wards without detection.
Following Edward’s death, police moved quickly. Senior investigators from Kilimani and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations arrested Kalombotole the same day. He had already been linked to the earlier murder, making the pattern difficult to ignore.
Post-mortem examinations confirmed that both Gilbert and Edward died from massive blood loss caused by deep neck injuries. Investigators said there was no evidence of robbery or personal disputes.
During questioning, Kalombotole reportedly remained calm and declined to explain the events.
His legal team sought a psychiatric evaluation, but doctors at Mbagathi Hospital later ruled him fit to stand trial.
The killings triggered a wave of concern over hospital security, especially in wards housing vulnerable patients. Kenyatta National Hospital’s acting CEO, Dr. William Sigilai, acknowledged the incidents and pledged internal reviews.
For the families of Gilbert Kinyua and Edward Maingi Ndegwa, however, the promises offer little comfort.
Their loved ones entered a place meant for healing but instead died in silence, under circumstances that continue to raise more questions than answers.