Police have cleared a taxi driver linked to the murder of Mildred Odira who worked as a switchboard operator at the Nation Media Group.

When the case came up for mention yesterday before Kiambu chief magistrate Patricia Gichohi, senior state counsel Christine Mbevi informed the court police have no evidence to charge David Junga Ochieng with murder.

She told the court instead police are treating him as a prosecution witness after conducting a comprehensive investigation for the last two-and-half months.

Earlier, the magistrate had released Ochieng on a cash bail of Sh200,000 pending completion of investigations.

Ochieng had been ordered to report to the DCI offices, Kasarani, three times a week until detectives complete their probe into the death.

However, after completing investigations detectives found that Ochieng could not be charged with murder.

The magistrate allowed the prosecution to close the investigation file against Ochieng. She also ordered the cash bail of Sh 200,000 deposited in court be refunded to Ochieng immediately.

According to detectives, Odira was last seen with taxi driver Ochieng. She disappeared in February in Kariobangi South where she lived.

Security guards said they had called a taxi to take her to Ruaraka’s Uhai Neema Hospital after she fell ill that night but she never made it to the hospital.

It is said that the taxi man told the family he drove and left Odira at Ruaraka Uhai Neema Hospital.

But investigators found the driver signed in at the hospital’s gates at 4:30 am and signed out at 5:57 am, one hour 27 minutes, which contradicted the 20-minute duration he had given to her family.

According to detectives, CCTV footage shows the driver entering and immediately exiting without dropping anyone.

Odira was last seen at the office at Nation Centre on a Thursday and she took Friday off to seek treatment.

But since her blood pressure was too high, she was told to go back to the hospital on Monday for more tests.

Her sister says they found out she was not home after her son went to her house where they live in Kariobangi South on Tuesday morning, leaving her wondering why he was not in school.

The incident was reported at Kasarani police station and the taxi operator held.