NAIROBI, KENYA – A routine detention hearing at the Milimani Law Courts took an unexpected turn on Tuesday, 25 November 2025, when Chief Magistrate Dolphina Alego paused proceedings to deliver a pointed lecture to seven university students linked to the death of 23-year-old Daystar University student Lorna Kathambi Karani. The magistrate’s direct questioning about the “benefits of alcohol” shifted the focus from legal arguments to the broader social crisis of substance abuse among Kenyan youth, following a party that ended in tragedy.

Lorna Kathambi’s body was discovered on the ground floor of Harmony Plaza apartments in Ngara on Sunday, 23 November 2025, after she fell from the 12th floor. According to an affidavit filed by Corporal Johnes Nyangige of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), Kathambi had been at a party in an apartment on the 12th floor with the seven students now being held as persons of interest. The court heard that a security guard had warned the group twice about excessive noise, which included shouting and playing a guitar. Investigators are probing whether her fall was accidental or involved foul play.

A Courtroom Confrontation

The seven students—Dennis Kariuki Gitonga, Loise Osiro, Lucy Mora, Ali Kibwana Kamaku, Precious Kendi Mutembei, Austin Ochieng, and Wendy Kerubo—appeared in court as the DCI sought more time to conclude its investigation. In a dramatic moment, Magistrate Alego addressed the students directly, not as a judicial officer but, as she stated, “as a mother.” She asked each of them to state one benefit of drinking alcohol, a question that was met with silence or admissions that there were none. The magistrate also invited the parents and guardians present in the courtroom to speak, leading to emotional statements of disappointment and pleas for their children to focus on their education.

The DCI was granted seven days to detain the suspects at Parklands Police Station to allow for the completion of investigations, which include retrieving CCTV footage, conducting forensic analysis on the suspects' mobile phones, and awaiting a post-mortem examination. Police stated that items believed to belong to the deceased, including her mobile phone and national identity card, were recovered from the apartment of one of the suspects.

A National Crisis on Campus

The incident and the magistrate’s subsequent remarks underscore a pervasive and growing problem in Kenya’s institutions of higher learning. A February 2025 report by the National Authority for the Campaign Against Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) revealed alarming statistics on substance use among university students. The report, titled “Status of Drugs and Substance Abuse Among University Students in Kenya, 2024,” found that alcohol is the most widely available and consumed substance, with nearly one in five students having used it in the past month. The study surveyed over 15,000 students and highlighted that friends are the primary source of drugs and alcohol for 66.4% of students, followed by neighbourhood bars and fellow students. This social networking of substance distribution points to a deeply embedded cultural issue that universities and authorities are struggling to contain. The consequences, as noted in the NACADA report, range from missing classes and exams to disciplinary issues and, in the most tragic cases like Kathambi's, loss of life.

Daystar University has faced scrutiny over student welfare before, with other tragic deaths of students like Mercy Cherono in September 2023 raising questions about campus safety protocols. While universities implement counseling and awareness programs, the effectiveness of these measures is challenged by the widespread availability of alcohol and a peer culture that often normalizes excessive consumption. The family of Lorna Kathambi, who are traveling from Meru, now await the outcome of the investigation, hoping for answers and justice in a case that has become a somber reflection of the risks facing many young Kenyans today.