Jacob Juma, a prominent and controversial Kenyan businessman, has been shot dead in Nairobi, Kenya.
Juma, a wealthy businessman with interests in mining, property and agriculture, was driving home from a bar to his residence on Thursday night when assassins riding on a motorbike shot at his car ten times before speeding off. Police say nothing was stolen from the businessman as two mobile phones and cash were found in the vehicle.
He was an outspoken critic of the Kenyan government, often accusing the President Uhuru Kenyatta, his Deputy William Ruto, and other key government officials of mishandling public funds. Last year, he warned on Twitter, where he had a large following of more than 27,000 followers, that there was a plot to assassinate him because of his outspoken views.
Juma, 43, had enemies everywhere – within the Kenyan government, the Judiciary and even in corporate circles.
In 2013, he sued Kenya’s ministry of mining after the former minister for mining, Najib Balala, revoked a license held by Cortec Mining, a mining company in which he owned an interest. He also sued the state-run National Cereals and Produce Board last year for $5 million over an alleged breach of contract to deliver 40,000 tons of maize in 2004.
Earlier this year he accused Supreme Court judge Njoki Ndung’u of corruption and he claimed frequently on Twitter that Equity Bank, Kenya’s largest bank by customer base, was cooking its books and was a Ponzi scheme waiting to unfold.