NLC deputy head of investigations died of heart attack - Autopsy

 

Deputy Director of Investigations and Forensic Services at the National Land Commission, Antipas Nyanjwa, died of a heart attack, an autopsy report shows.

A postmortem was conducted on Nyanjwa's body on Thursday.

Chief Government Pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor conducted the autopsy and briefed the family of Nyanjwa on the findings.

Nyanjwa’s brother Kennedy said samples were picked up from the deceased’s body for further tests and analysis to establish what triggered the attack.

He added the results may change the cause of the death later.

“For now we are content with the findings of the pathologist who has said it was a heart attack that killed our brother. Further tests will be conducted on the samples picked,” he said.

Police were also present during the exercise.

Witnesses say Nyanjwa seemed unhappy on Monday after he learned his office was locked and he had been ordered to leave for his new posting.

He had been transferred to Homa Bay and named the county coordinator.

Nyanjwa collapsed and died at a restaurant on Ngong Road, Nairobi.

It has emerged Nyanjwa was to meet among others, a Member of Parliament from Kisumu at the Soiree Gardens for a meeting when he died.

Witnesses said he arrived and parked his car, stayed therein for long before finally leaving.

A manager at the restaurant - Ann Githinji - said Nyanjwa did not take food or water at the joint.

“He stayed in his car for a while and later left for a short call but did not reach there. He could not walk and held onto a rail before he sat on the ground complaining of breathing problems. He did not eat anything here,” she said.

The hotel staff rushed him to the hospital.

“The staff say he had not ordered food and he developed breathing problems before they rushed him to the hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival. We don’t know where he had been before then,” said an investigator who asked not to be named.

Nyanjwa has had a history of heart related complications and had apparently recovered from Covid-19.

He was among officials investigating a Sh20 billion controversial land along Thika Road whose ownership has been a contention between different parties and he was to submit his report to the commission.

He was moved last year on July 20, 2020 but appealed the decision by the commission.

On April 7, 2021, acting NLC secretary Kabale Tache directed Nyanjwa to immediately report to his new posting.

“Further to your transfer to Homa Bay County vide letter dated 20th July 2020 and your appeal dated 28th July 2020, I am writing to notify you that the matter was deliberated by the commission during its 81st sitting that was held on 25th and 29th March 2021.”

“It was resolved that you ought to have reported to Homa Bay County as envisaged. Pursuant to this, I am writing to ask you to report to Homa Bay County with immediate effect,” said Tache in her letter.

Insiders said this did not please Nyanjwa, who saw it as a punishment given he had cited health as part of the reasons he did not want to be moved.

He was the deputy head of investigations at the commission since 2014 when he joined from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations.

He had served as the deputy head of document examination section of the forensic unit at the DCI.

He had also served as an instructor at the DCI academy.

“He was one of the celebrated document examiners in the country. He was a dedicated man,” said one of his colleagues who had worked with him at the DCI.

Officials at the commission said Nyanjwa had been expressing fears for his life over investigations on land cartels he was handling.

He reported the same to his bosses.

Among others, Nyanjwa nailed key masterminds of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

He also nailed a number of criminals for fraud.

Nyanjwa’s death comes a month after the deputy director of communication Jennifer Wambua was found murdered in Ngong area.

Three suspects have since been arrested over the death of Jennifer as the probe into the murder goes on.

Police said they had not established a link between the two deaths.

On November 28, 2008, Nyanjwa was attacked and seriously wounded as he and his wife Violet drove to their home in Kisumu.

Court documents showed about four people wearing police jungle jackets and saying they were officers from Winam Camp showed up and engaged them in a conversation before they suddenly attacked the couple. 

Nyanjwa and his wife were cut at the back of the head.

He woke up at Aga Khan University Hospital after four days and was later airlifted to Nairobi for further treatment.

The attackers robbed Nyanjwa of his pistol Sh328,000, two mobile phones and other personal effects. Two of the suspects were later arrested and jailed over the incident but released after appeal.   BY THE STAR