GATIBA'S AUTOPSY

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 10 - A post mortem conducted on Monday on the late CID Director Karanja Gatiba has not been made public.

The postmortem was conducted at the Lee Funeral Home by the Chief Government Pathologist Dr Moses Njue with the help of his deputy who is based at the City mortuary.

“There is a procedure for releasing the results, it is not appropriate for us to just release the results to the media; please get them from Police Headquarters,” an official who accompanied the two doctors said.

It was not immediately clear if the family was given the report which was ready by Monday afternoon.

The postmortem was witnessed by representatives from the Mr Gatiba’s family and police officers from both Nairobi and Thika where the death occurred

“The report will be handed over to the family and the Police Commissioner, it is upon them to make it public,” the official added.

Mr Gatiba passed away on Sunday morning after what was described as a ‘short illness’ he developed while at his Juja home, according to Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere.

One of his sons discovered his father writhing in pain on the bed and summoned his brother. The two rushed their father to the Thika Nursing Home, a few kilometers from their home, where a doctor pronounced the CID boss dead on arrival.

The body was later transferred to the Lee Funeral Home.

On Monday, Police headquarters clarified that Mr Gatiba was not scheduled to meet ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo.

Some of the police officers who worked under him at Mazingira complex told Capital News that the CID chief was suffering from high blood pressure but it was not immediately established if that was the cause of his death.

On Monday, senior government officials were still sending their condolences to the late Gatiba’s family.

Police Spokesman Erick Kiraithe who is attending the 8th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council Universal Periodic Review in Geneva said Mr Gatiba’s death was a big loss to the police force.

“I wish to join the family, friends, relatives and all my colleagues in the Kenya Police during this sad moment as we mourn the death of Mr Gatiba,” Mr Kiraithe said in a statement from Geneva.

He said the late Mr Gatiba had distinguished himself as a family man who “will always be remembered as a calm, collected and intelligent cop whose sober wisdom proved of great value during turbulent times in the force.”

Rift Valley Provincial Police Chief Francis Munyambu said “Kenya has lost an asset in crime intelligence and investigations.”

“We are all in solidarity with the family, at this difficult moment,” Mr Munyambu said on telephone from his Nakuru office.