On Tuesday afternoon, Sammy Methu Kiragu, the CEO of Sedgwick Insurance Brokers and a prominent figure on Nairobi’s Fourth Ngong Avenue, made a startling choice that shocked the city. Instead of heading to his usual office on the 14th floor of 4th Avenue Towers, where he had a commanding view of the bustling metropolis below, he took the elevator to the seventh floor. Eyewitnesses claim he walked directly to a window and, moments later, fell to the pavement below—his life ending instantly in what investigators are now calling a suicide.
Kiragu’s decision to take his own life occurred less than a day before he was scheduled to meet with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI). The summons was not a casual one. Sedgwick Insurance Brokers, along with UAP Old Mutual General Insurance Ltd, had been embroiled in a probe related to a significant tender, KPC/UOT-298/FIN/NBI/22-23, awarded by the Kenya Pipeline Company Ltd. The tender, which had been locked in from July 2023 to June 2025, was now under intense scrutiny. Sources suggest the deal was beginning to show signs of trouble, and the DCI’s Insurance Fraud Investigation Unit (IFIU) was ramping up its investigation.
The story began to take shape on February 18, 2025, when Daniel Kandie, head of the IFIU, sent a letter (DCI/IB/IFIU/SEC/4/4/1/VOL. XVI/369) to the Managing Director of UAP Old Mutual. Kandie demanded that a company representative “conversant with the matter” attend an interview three days later. The accusation? Suspected conspiracy and violations of the Insurance Act. Sedgwick, it appeared, was next on the list. Insiders suggest that Kiragu was fully aware of the mounting pressure and was making desperate attempts to stall the investigation. “He was frantic,” said one source. “He’d been calling in favours, trying to pull strings, anything to stop the probe.”
The seventh floor, where Kiragu’s fateful steps led him, was not a random location. Was it a quiet refuge for reflection—or the final stage of his tragic end? Colleagues described Kiragu in the days leading up to his death as a man unravelling under pressure. Long nights, secretive phone calls, and an ever-growing pile of files marked with the tender’s reference code painted a picture of a man in distress. “He stopped smiling weeks ago,” confided a junior broker. The looming interrogation was set for the following day, and Kiragu’s name was among the key figures.
Theories surrounding his death began circulating almost immediately. Was the investigation into the tender—fraught with millions of shillings and reputations at risk—the breaking point? Or was there a deeper secret Kiragu could not allow the detectives to uncover? The DCI has yet to comment, and Sedgwick Insurance Brokers issued a vague press release offering little insight.
As the police cordoned off the scene and the streets buzzed with speculation, one thing remained clear: Kiragu’s tragic fall left behind a story not yet told, one of pressure, power, and a life lost too soon.
