Slain Kenyan Businesswoman Monica Kimani Was Detained at JKIA over Undeclared Cash

Reports claiming that slain Kenyan businesswoman Monica Kimani was temporarily detained at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) when she landed from Juba, South Sudan have emerged.

The Star reports that officers at JKIA held Ms Kimani after she was found with undeclared cash but was released after intervention by a high flying individual, who made a call to airport bosses demanding that she be freed.

The newspaper says that the incident was handled with high levels of confidentiality with no records showing that Ms Kimani passed through the airport on that day.

When contacted for a comment about the incident, Kenya Airport Authority (KAA) Communications Manager Angela Tilitei said KAA has no knowledge about the incident.

"KAA does not have the mandate to detain any passengers. It is either immigration, port health or Kenya Airports Police Unit," she told the Star. 

Sources at the airport told the publication that the 29-year-old was carrying more cash than she had declared. The cash was in form of foreign currency.

Immigration Principal Secretary Gordon Kihalangwa said his office only deals with passports and was not aware of the matter.

"One thing I am sure of is that Monica never had a diplomatic passport as had been claimed. She bore the ordinary one,” he said.

"Secondly, with regard to whether she was detained for failing to declare the money she had, am not aware because that is the docket of the customs department," Kihalangwa told the Star.

There are no records that Ms Kimani was briefly detained at JKIA but multiple sources confirmed to The Star that she was indeed found with undeclared cash.

"If you ask any KAA staff about Monica Kimani's flight details, definitely you will hit a dead end. All the flights details have been taken," an officer said.

"We have a machine to screen people and another for goods. Those machines are accurate. The money must have been seen. CCTV cameras should be reviewed and the KAA officer who allowed her to pass arrested and prosecuted," he added.

Monica was brutally murdered at her apartment in Nairobi's Kilimani estate hours after returning to the country from South Sudan where she managed a family business. Her body had been dumped in a bathtub with hands and legs tied, and throat slit.