Man accused of killing MMU student Sylvia Kemunto charged in Kibera court, denied bond
The court was told that Mutinda is a flight risk, having allegedly fled the university after the crime and contacted a prosecution witness to express his plan to cross into Tanzania.
The main suspect in the murder of Multimedia University (MMU) student Sylvia Kemunto was on Thursday charged before a Kibera court with murder.
Philip Eric Mutinda, a first-year Electrical Engineering student at MMU, is the main suspect in the murder of Kemunto, whose body was found at night in a water tank on the rooftop of a hostel within the university campus.
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Mutinda is accused of murdering Kemunto on March 30, 2025, at the University located on Magadi Road in Karen, Nairobi. The two were previously in an alleged intimate relationship, which reportedly ended in February 2025.
On Thursday, Mutinda appeared before High Court judge Diana Kavedza and denied the charges.
The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), however, opposed his release on bond, saying he is a flight risk.
Femicide cases
The DPP, through prosecuting counsel Peris Maina, persuaded the court to take judicial notice of the alarming rise in femicide cases in the country, which has triggered public outrage and debate, and deny the accused person bond.
Maina urged that femicide cases had culminated in widespread protests held on January 27, 2024 and December 10, 202,4, across 11 counties, where demonstrators called for justice and stronger measures against the killing of women.
She stated that releasing the accused on bond could endanger the community and disturb public order, peace, and security.
The court was told that Mutinda is a flight risk, having allegedly fled the university after the crime and contacted a prosecution witness to express his plan to cross into Tanzania.
Key witnesses
The DPP also noted that nine of the prosecution witnesses are students from the accused's university, including classmates and his roommate, cautioning that there is a strong likelihood that the accused could interfere with these key witnesses if released.
Kemunto disappeared under mysterious circumstances on March 30, 2025.
It is alleged that Mutinda visited Kemunto in her hostel room to discuss their breakup. During this encounter, he is said to have strangled her, placed her body in a green suitcase, and transported it to his hostel room. The body was later discovered in a half-filled water reservoir on the rooftop of the building where the accused resided.
A post-mortem report confirmed the cause of death as a result of strangulation, as well as head injuries resulting from blunt force trauma.
The prosecution has indicated it will rely on 19 witnesses to prove its case.
The judge has allocated four hearing dates for the case from June 23 and 24, 2025
The court also directed the accused, through his defence counsel, to file a replying affidavit in an application by the DPP's objection to bond within seven days, ahead of a ruling on the bond application.
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