Kenyan Tycoon Kidnapped in Ethiopia Over Sh25 Million Business Deal Gone Wrong
The family of Kenyan tycoon Simon Waweru Njoroge is appealing for help from the government after he was allegedly kidnapped by his business partner in Ethiopia.
Njoroge, who is the proprietor of Windsor Motors Limited, was reportedly taken hostage by Ethiopian businessman Neto Godana after a business deal went awry.
Documents show that Neto and Njoroge, through a proxy named Ali Dida Abakula, entered into an agreement for the importation of 500 motorcycles for Sh45 million.
Njoroge, a car dealer, agreed to import the motorbikes from China and deliver them to Neto, with the Ethiopian trader paying Sh25 million upfront through two forex bureaus in Nairobi. The money was paid in three tranches of Sh5.4 million, Sh5.6 million, and Sh14 million.
Three months after receiving the down payment, Njoroge was yet to fulfill the agreement.
Court documents indicate that Neto used Abakula to lure Njoroge to Shakiso, a region in Southern Ethiopia with an intention of exacting revenge.
On February 13th this year, Njoroge traveled to Ethiopia in the company of Abakula under the guise of a business trip.
Njoroge’s wife Molly Muthoni told police that upon arrival in Ethiopia, her husband called claiming that Neto had kidnapped him and was demanding back his Sh25 million for his release.
“On February 19, 2021, my husband called me at 6 am, saying his life was in danger as his host, Neto, had turned hostile towards him,” Muthoni says in her statement.
On April 19th, police arrested Abakula at his home in Isiolo on accusations of aiding the kidnapping of Njoroge.
Upon his arrest, he produced a document indicating that Neto and Njoroge had inked a deal for the purchase of 500 motorcycles from China at Sh45 million.
The alleged agreement was signed before a Nairobi-based lawyer Myron Mukuna Eshuchi but police claim the document “does not bear the language of the advocates drawn by.”
Detectives are seeking to establish why Neto failed to file a complaint with police in Kenya or Kenya’s Embassy in Ethiopia.
Police searched Abakula’s home and recovered a Kenyan passport indicating that he traveled to Ethiopia on February 13th and returned four days later—the same planned travel dates on Njoroge’s diary.
Police also want to find out whether Abakula, who claims to have known Neto since 2019, was part of the abduction scheme.
Abakula was arraigned before Milimani Senior Resident Magistrate Jane Kamau on April 20th, where he denied charges of abduction and was released on Sh500,000 cash bail. The matter will be mentioned on May 4th, 2021.