Police officer’s murder: Manhunt ends with arrest of suspect

By  Hilary Kimuyu

Correspondent

Nation Media Group

A manhunt of nearly three years for a suspect accused of fatally stabbing a police officer during an operation against illicit alcohol in Laikipia County has ended with his arrest.

Onesmas Kipkoech Tiony was arrested on Saturday, November 14, 2026, following a coordinated operation involving Homicide detectives, DCI Laikipia West and officers from Rumuruti Police Station.

He is accused of killing Inspector Prosper Ojiambo Wandera, who was serving as the Deputy Officer Commanding Rumuruti Police Station when he was attacked on February 16, 2024.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) said officers followed leads and forensic analysis to track down Tiony, who had remained on the run for two years and nine months.

The breakthrough came after investigators narrowed their search to his hideout, where they eventually arrested him.

Detectives also recovered a motorcycle believed to have been used by the suspect to flee after the killing. The motorcycle has been secured as an exhibit as investigations continue.

Wandera was killed while conducting a raid at an illicit alcohol den in Maundu Ni Meri, Rumuruti Town, in an operation targeting the distribution of chang’aa.

According to an account given by Laikipia County Police Commander John Nyoike shortly after the incident, the officer had received intelligence that a consignment of illicit brew was expected at a drinking den in the area.

He travelled from Rumuruti town on a boda boda motorcycle to carry out the operation at the premises in Sossian location.

However, the raid turned deadly when he reportedly encountered resistance from a suspected brewer.

“It is reported that the officer had received information that there were some jerricans of the illicit brew that were to be delivered at a den in the area. He decided to conduct a raid but was attacked by a brewer,” Mr Nyoike said at the time.

The boda boda rider later alerted police after reporting that a passenger he had taken to the area had been stabbed following a confrontation.

Officers who rushed to the scene found Wandera with a fatal stab wound on the left side of his chest, inflicted using a sharp object believed to have been a knife.

Mr Nyoike said the rider had transported the officer alone from Rumuruti town to Maundu Ni Meri shopping centre, where he intended to arrest a suspect at a den belonging to Jackline Lepere.

The officer reportedly encountered the suspect while he was delivering 20 litres of chang’aa.

The attacker escaped immediately after the stabbing, leaving behind a 20-litre jerrican of illicit brew.

Wandera’s body was later moved to St Benedict Hospital mortuary in Nyahururu.

His killing triggered investigations by detectives, who pursued several leads in an effort to identify and apprehend the attacker.

The DCI said forensic analysis and intelligence-led investigations eventually helped detectives establish the suspect's whereabouts, bringing the prolonged search to an end.

Tiony is being held by police as detectives complete investigations ahead of his arraignment in court.

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