The brutal assassination of prominent lawyer Mathew Kyalo Mbobu has sparked nationwide protests led by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK). Mbobu, a respected senior advocate and former chair of the Political Parties Dispute Tribunal, was shot dead in a drive-by attack on Tuesday evening, September 9, near the Lang’ata-Magadi Road junction in Nairobi’s affluent Karen estate.
According to witnesses, Mbobu was driving home when a gunman on a motorcycle pulled alongside his car and opened fire, killing him instantly. A disturbing video circulating online shows the advocate’s bloodied body slumped over the wheel of his shattered vehicle. Police are treating the case as a targeted assassination, though the motive remains unclear.
Describing the incident as bearing “all the markings of a predetermined assassination,” LSK President Faith Odhiambo condemned the rising violence against members of the legal profession. “Too often, advocates have been victimized and targeted for the work that they do,” she said. “This incident and others like it represent a damning test to the administration of justice. Such calamitous levels of insecurity place our country at the precipice of lawlessness.”
In response, the LSK has announced a Purple Ribbon March this Friday, September 12. The procession will start at Milimani Law Courts at 9:00 a.m., proceed through Kenyatta Avenue, and culminate at Vigilance House, where a memorandum will be presented to Inspector General of Police Douglas Kanja. The protests will also be replicated across all eight LSK branches nationwide, symbolizing solidarity within the profession.
The Senior Counsel Bar (SCB), led by Philip Murgor, suggested the hit may be linked to long-standing disputes, pointing to a 33-year-old land case involving Captain (Rtd) Kung’u Muigai, in which Mbobu was once involved. “On the very day Mbobu was murdered, Captain Muigai posted on social media about this case. Is it a coincidence that he is then gunned down? Whatever the case, no stone should be left unturned,” Murgor said.
The killing has drawn widespread condemnation. Senate Speaker Amason Kingi, once Mbobu’s student at the University of Nairobi, described the murder as “cold-blooded” and urged police to act swiftly. “Mbobu was a distinguished advocate, an outstanding scholar, and a dedicated public servant. His death is a monumental loss to the legal fraternity and the country,” Kingi said.
Mbobu’s career spanned more than three decades. He was a senior partner at Kyalo & Associates Advocates, a lecturer at the University of Nairobi and Kenya School of Law, and the author of the widely used text The Law and Practice of Evidence in Kenya. His leadership at the Political Parties Dispute Tribunal and service on the Business Premises Rent Tribunal placed him at the center of key political and commercial disputes.
The DCI has vowed to deploy “all available resources” to hunt down the killers. “Our investigators are working diligently to piece together the events and ensure the perpetrators of this heinous act are brought to justice,” the agency said in a statement.
As the legal fraternity prepares to march, Mbobu’s assassination has reignited concerns over a disturbing pattern of political and professional killings, drawing parallels to the April 2025 drive-by murder of MP Charles Ong’ondo Were.
For the LSK, Friday’s march is not just about mourning one of their own but about demanding an end to the culture of violence that threatens the rule of law.
