Assassinated in 1975, the death of former Nyandarua North Member of Parliament Josiah Mwangi (JM) Kariuki remains a mystery to many Kenyans, as those who were alive to witness the greatness that he exuded as a champion for the poor and a fierce critic of the government remains etched into their minds to this day.

While 47 years have passed since his brutal killing on that fateful day of March 2, 1975, the late legislator's final 48 hours have been pieced together, revealing the mental and physical turmoil that he endured before his death.

Leading up to his death, JM was aware that he was living on borrowed time, and kept his confidants who were working in the Kenyatta government close in a bid to be in the loop of any looming danger. Among them was Mark Mwithaga who was the then Nakuru Town MP, who on one evening, accompanied JM to a bar for drinks in Nakuru, and in no time, Nakuru mayor Mburu Gichua stormed into the establishment, telling him that his days were numbered and that they would 'finish' him.

That statement escalated his worry and decided to head back to Nairobi, where his fears were confirmed by former minister GG Kariuki, who told him that indeed there had been a meeting at Nakuru by government operatives, where the plan was hatched to eliminate him. He further told JM that the operatives had excerpts of his speeches that depicted his criticism of the government, and it was decided that he had to die.

Now apprehensive of what was to come, JM reached out to Njenga Karume in a bid to secure a meeting with President Jomo Kenyatta to save himself from his impending doom, but before the meeting could be set up, JM was advised by his doctor to travel to a  warmer region like the Coast to alleviate the pain in his leg that he had suffered from beatings as a Maumau detainee. He was tipped off  that he was likely being trailed and canceled his trip. On that evening of March 1, 1975, the Mombasa-bound bus that he was scheduled to travel on was blown up by a bomb leaving 27 people dead.

The next day, he was summoned to appear for an emergency interrogation by Special branch officers, and among them was his friend and General Service Unit commander Ben Gethi, whom he asked for a firearm from just in case he was in danger, as his own pistol had been confiscated earlier. Gethi then handed him a service pistol as they headed into the meeting where he was met by the mean faces of his interrogators who included police commissioner Patrick Shaw, Wanyoike Thungu, and Ignatius Iriga Nderi among others.

JM was not aware of the betrayal that was bout to hit him, as according to former Special branch spy, James Khwatenge, JM got into a heated argument with Thungu who struck him across the face, causing his teeth to fall out and in retaliation, he reached into his pocket for the gun. Gethi promptly shot JM twice, once in the arm to disable him, and then took a second shot that hit him in the chest and eventually killed him.

It is believed that Gethi resorted to killing JM to silence him because in the event that his life was spared, he would have blown the cover on the GSU commander's decision to hand him a gun from the service, which could cause problems for him with President Kenyatta especially if it became public that the government was involved in the plot.

It then became apparent that disposing of his body was the next plan of action and it so happened that at the time, the government had ordered a rebranding of all vehicles ferrying fresh meat, with a maroon strip running across the body of the vehicles. Thungu and his counterparts then organized how they would get one vehicle, and put JM's bleeding body at the back, which at face value seemed like just the normal butchery-bound car. His body was then taken to Ngong forest and dumped, with the hope that it be devoured by wild animals.

After failing to show up home that evening, JM's family became frantic and reported him missing, and a herdsman reported that he had discovered a body of a smartly dressed man in the thickets of the forest, and speculations began that it could be JM. It was retrieved and taken to the Nairobi City Mortuary and according to the late Victor Riitho who was a journalist at the time, he had to feign being a relative of one of those who died in the bomb blast to gain access to the morgue in search of JM's body but to no avail.

He was told that the body of the one who was brought in from Ngong' was kept in the back which he believed was to hasten the decomposition process. One by one, MPs made their way to the mortuary to demand to see his body, but the government had already deployed Special Branch officials to bar their entry and when they finally got access, JM's body had been tagged as an unclaimed body of a gangster, which was scheduled to be handed to a bereaved family outside the premises. It was evident however that the government to cover its tracks had been foiled.

 When the news of Kariuki's death broke on March 12, 1975, Nairobi University students marched in protest in the streets of the capital. The government not expecting this kind of reaction by Kenya was forced to appoint a Parliamentary Select Committee chaired by Elijah Wasike Mwangale to immediately investigate the circumstances surrounding Kariuki's murder. Soon after, the perpetrators were mentioned in the report but went unpunished, leaving Kenyans to mourn the great leader that JM was, but even more afraid of what the government was capable of.