Arshad Sharif’s stay in Nairobi penthouse was arranged by brothers from Karachi

NAIROBI (KENYA): Journalist Arshad Sharif stayed in the penthouse of an apartment building owned by businessmen brothers Waqar Ahmed and Khurram Ahmed, an investigation by Geo News has established.

This correspondent visited the block of apartments where Arshad Sharif spent the last 63 days of his life after arriving in Nairobi from Dubai on the 10th of August 2022 after obtaining a visit visa. The building, located in a highly secure and relatively rich area of Nairobi, has over 24 luxury flats occupied by private tenants. It’s understood that Waqar and Khurram reserved the penthouse exclusively for Arshad Sharif where the slain journalist stayed for over two months before his tragic killing some three hours out of Nairobi in a deserted area. It’s the same penthouse from where Arshad Sharif did his Vlogs as he was removed from his job at the private channel and he had started airing his views through his YouTube channel.

The penthouse building has been visited by investigators who met Waqar Ahmed at the site for several hours and asked him questions about Arshad Sharif’s routine and what Waqar and Khurram knew about the journalist’s stay for two months. Khurram and Waqar are originally from Karachi and both own and run several big property projects in Nairobi. They own the farmhouse and a firing shooting camp some 300 hours out of the capital where Arshad Sharif was last seen before his death.

Their role is at the centre of the investigation by both Pakistani and Kenya investigators, the Geo News understands after speaking to authorities in both countries dealing with this matter. Arshad Sharif provided details of the same penthouse apartment to the police for obtaining a visa for Kenya. He told the immigration authorities that he will be staying at the same apartment as it was owned by his main sponsor in Kenya, Waqar Ahmed, who arranged the invitation and hospitality for Arshad Sharif at the request of a British-Pakistani businessman based in Dubai.

The apartment building is towering and is located off a road just ten minutes away from Pakistan High Commission in Nairobi. This location is known to the local Pakistani and Indian community and it is widely known that Waqar Ahmed and his brother had developed the building and put it on rent. The building is located next to a huge tower owned by an Indian businessman. In the neighbourhood, mostly foreigners, well-off professionals and middle-class people either own or rent out flats. The entry to the building is by invitation only and no one is allowed beyond the gate unless the flat owners permit so. At any time the reception is manned by 2-3 armed security guards.

The Geo News sent questions to both Waqar and Khurram but they have not responded. However, their lawyer is in touch with this reporter and stressed that Arshad Sharif was killed in case of mistaken identity. Speaking on their behalf, Daniel Kiragu told the Geo News that the Kenya police have said the same. He said: “The Kenya police issued a statement and regretted the shooting as a case of mistaken identity. That’s all we know for now. The investigations are still ongoing and our clients are fully cooperating with the investigation.”

However, this is not an account many in Kenya and Pakistan are prepared to believe. The Kenya police contradicted its statement by first saying that Arshad Sharif was killed in a case of mistaken identity at a roadblock and then alleged that shots were fired at the police from inside Arshad Sharif’s car and that he was killed when the response unit fired back.

After arriving in the Kenyan capital on Wednesday, the Geo News investigation team found that the slain journalist’s visit visa to Kenya was sponsored and he didn’t get the entry visa on arrival. The letter by the investigators confirms the disclosure by the Geo News which was based on information passed by the immigration officials and senior Pakistani diplomats familiar with the investigation.

The sponsor letter to Arshad Sharif to visit Kenya was sent by Waqar Ahmed, brother of Khurram Ahmed who was driving Arshad Sharif on the fateful night of 23rd October 2022 when Arshad Sharif died in a hail of bullets fired on him by the Kenyan police at a deserted area.

Both Waqar and Khurram have been questioned by Pakistan’s investigation team - FIA director Athar Wahid and Intelligence Bureau (IB) deputy director general Omar Shahid Hamid - to ascertain the facts of the journalist’s murder. The shooting dead of Arshad Sharif by police in Kenya has caused outrage in Pakistan, leaving many wondering how such a thing could have happened.