Kasarani jinx: Why are people plunging to their deaths?

On December 15, Michael Onyancha was spotted at a popular club along Thika Road in the company of a woman identified as Mercy.

On the fateful night, it is reported the two proceeded to the woman’s house located on the third floor of an apartment in Kasarani.

Neighbours and witnesses said they spotted the Onyancha struggling to climb the stairs at around 11 pm as the lady assisted him before they entered the house.

Moments later, some noise emanated from the house before a loud bang was heard on the ground floor. Occupants of the apartment who came out noticed the limbs of the deceased and alerted the caretaker of the plot who raised the alarm.

The unconscious Onyancha was rushed to St Francis Hospital but upon arrival at the facility, he was pronounced dead.

While the banker’s death remains unclear, incidences of people plunging to death in Kasarani have raised eyebrows with the latest incident being the sixth within a year.

The incident has elicited debate with some city residents claiming Kasarani could be jinxed. Security analyst Richard Tutah feels there must be a reason why such cases are happening there. He argues that it could be because of the lifestyle in the neighbourhood that is contributing to a lot of partying.

“When people engage in drinking during such parties, they lose sense of judgement. Another reason could either be that proper investigations are never conducted when such incidences happen,” explains Tutah.

Sometime in May this year, Kasarani residents were shocked when interior designer Jeff Mwathi fell from the 10th floor in the neighbourhood. It emerged that the deceased had visited the house of a DJ in a meeting that turned out to be a party.

In another case on February 21, the life of Brenda Kawira came to a tragic end after allegedly jumping from a fourth-floor building in Kasarani.

It was after her demise that her boyfriend confessed that they had quarrelled on their way to the bedroom. It is reported that an unhappy Kawira walked to the balcony and jumped to her death leaving the family in shock.

Still in Kasarani, Blair Muthoni died under unclear circumstances after she fell from the fifth floor of an apartment. Her two roommates were arrested for grilling where it emerged there was a fight in the house prior to Muthoni’s death.

In late 2022, a woman nicknamed King Alami fell from the seventh floor of a building along Lumumba Drive.

In a similar incident Cynthia Mboya, 26, fell to the ground floor after a scuffle with her boyfriend and another man.

Mbova told police she had shown up at the apartment to visit her boyfriend who was then with a male friend.