Gospel singer Rachel Wandeto is dead. Wandeto died on Monday, May 18, at Kenyatta National Hospital, days after attackers allegedly ambushed her, drenched her in petrol and set her ablaze in what investigators suspect may have been a politically charged attack.
By the time she was wheeled into the burns unit, doctors said nearly 70 per cent of her body had been scorched.
Videos filmed from her hospital bed, her voice faint, her skin wrapped in layers of gauze, spread rapidly across social media, turning her final days into a haunting national spectacle.
In those painful recordings, Wandeto claimed a group of men accused her of “eating government money alone” before surrounding her along a road in Mwiki in Kasarani and carrying out the attack.
The singer had become a lightning rod online earlier this year after tattooing President William Ruto’s face on her chest alongside the slogan “Tutam”, shorthand for “two terms”, a dramatic public declaration of political loyalty to William Ruto that drew both fascination and ridicule across Kenya’s digital landscape.
But what began as viral political theatre spiralled into something far darker.
I am profoundly saddened to learn of the demise of Ms Rachel Wandetto, which happened this morning at the Kenyatta National Hospital following a heinous attack by a vile and intolerant group of people.
Her passing is deeply disturbing. No one deserves to be injured or killed for… pic.twitter.com/7jF0yLzIIz
— KIPCHUMBA MURKOMEN, E.G.H (@kipmurkomen) May 18, 2026
Police say three masked men attacked her on Friday, May 15, night along Obama Road in Kasarani before fleeing into the darkness.
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations have since taken over the case, while Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen personally visited her hospital bedside and warned against rising political intolerance.
READ ALSO: Kiambati wa Njora: Last Mau Mau General Dies at 106
Murkomen has since issued a statement describing Wandeto’s passing as deeply disturbing.
“Her passing is deeply disturbing. No one deserves to be injured or killed for their political views or affiliation in this day and age. It should prick the conscience of those propagating politics of hate, violence and division,” said Murkomen on X.
Inspector General Douglas Kanja described political violence and organised goonism as a growing threat to national stability.
PAY ATTENTION: Reach us at info@gotta.news.
