Ng’ethe killers arraigned in court.

George Irungu Maina and Ian Mbugua at a Nairobi Court facing murder charges following the killing of Joseph Ng’ethe Kiarie on December 24.

Two Marimba Sacco touts have been arraigned in a Nairobi court for allegedly beating to death a motorist in Githurai, Zimmerman last December.

George Irungu Maina and Ian Mbugua face murder charges following the killing of Joseph Ng’ethe Kiarie on December 24.

The two however did not take plea to the charge since they did not have a lawyer.

High court judge Jessie Lesiit directed they be brought back to court on January 24 when they will be assigned a state lawyer to defend them in the trial.

The former Maseno University student leader met his death as he drove out of a car wash in Zimmerman to join Kamiti Road. His vehicle was grazed by a minibus and an altercation ensued between him and the bus driver.

(Related story: Grief, calls for justice as slain former Maseno University student leader Ng’ethe laid to rest.)

The burial of Joseph Ng'ethe in Komo Village Thika earlier this month.

According to witnesses, drivers and touts of the Zuri Genesis Sacco and Marimba Investment Sacco, which ply the Zimmerman-Roysambu route, escalated the row. He complained that the driver of the minibus was in the wrong but was outnumbered in his quest for compensation for the damage to his vehicle.

They assaulted and fatally injured at the Kamiti and Tuners junction. Ng’ethe later succumbed to his injuries at Neema Hospital where he had been taken for treatment.

The incident sparked public outcry on social media for the arrest of the perpetrators of the crime something that prompted NTSA to suspend the entire fleet of vehicles under Marimba Investment Sacco.