Five pathologists have failed to ascertain the cause of death in the case of an electoral agency officer whose body was found in Kajiado County on Monday.
The team conducted an autopsy on slain Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) returning officer Daniel Mbolu Musyoka yesterday at Loitokitok Sub-County Hospital.
The pathologists represented Mr Musyoka’s family and human rights bodies. They were led by government pathologist Dr Dorothy Njeru in the four-hour procedure.
They said they could not determine the precise cause of death, saying samples would be subjected to further forensic analysis in a government lab.
Dr Njeru told members of Mr Musyoka’s family outside the morgue that the murder was done in a “professional” manner and that there were no physical injuries. She said most of his internal organs were intact.
“We cannot ascertain the cause of death. No physical injuries to point to the cause of death,” she said.
The family moved the body to the Montezuma mortuary in Machakos. Family spokesperson Jackson Muimi said his brother-in-law will be buried in Mithetheni village, Mwala sub-county, Machakos County. Funeral arrangements are underway.
Mr Musyoka was an IEBC returning officer in Embakasi East, Nairobi County. His body was discovered by herders on Monday evening in the Kilombero forest, at the foot of Mt Kilimanjaro. It was found dumped on the bed of a dry seasonal river. He went missing from his workstation on August 12.
The Kilombero forest is notorious as a site where bodies of people killed elsewhere are dumped.
The body was stark naked but his clothes, including a tracksuit and a Maasai shuka, were at the edge of the valley. There were also visible signs of a struggle. No identification documents were found on it.
The body was positively identified by his sisters, Ms Mary Mwikali and Ann Mboya, on Monday night.
Mr Muimi speculated that his brother-in-law could have been murdered for refusing to take part in malpractices in last week’s elections.
“Our brother was an honest IEBC officer who could not condone corruption. We want the investigation to be expedited to bring the culprits to book,” he told the Nation on Tuesday at the morgue in Loitokitok. BY DAILY NATION