Postmortem Reveals Kirinyaga IEBC Official Died Of Blood Clot

KIRINYAGA, Kenya, Aug, 24 – Gichugu Constituency Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commissioner (IEBC) returning officer Geoffrey Gitobu’s death was attributed to natural causes, Dr Simon Amok, the pathologist has said.

Amok, who had led other two pathologists, speaking to the media at Cottage Hospital Mortuary on Wednesday where the post-mortem was conducted, said the IEBC official’s blood clotted at the pulmonary artery in the heart making it difficult for blood to flow to the lungs hence the officer succumbing.

“We have done the post-mortem of the 58-year-old male who had been reported to have sudden death and, based on the findings, there were no significant injuries, “said the pathologist.

“What we finalized as the cause of death was pulmonary thromboembolism (blood clot lodged within the pulmonary trunk),” added the pathologist. He further revealed that the IEBC officer had moderate anemia and lobar pneumonia.

Laikipia county commander John Nyoike who was also present at the time of the autopsy demystified the narrative going on on social media that the IEBC officer was killed.

On his part, Laikipia County Criminal Investigation Officer (CCIO) Onesmus Towet said there was no foul play surrounding the death of the 58-year-old officer.

“The post-mortem has been conducted and what has come out of it is that it was a natural cause of death. No physical or internal injuries,” said the CCIO, adding that they will continue with the investigation and rule out the issue after submitting samples to the government laboratory.

Gatobu died on Monday in Nanyuki town, it was alleged that he felt dizzy in the company of his brother while driving within Nanyuki where they headed to a nearby clinic. The condition worsened and the medics at the clinic called for an ambulance and rushed to a local private hospital where he was pronounced dead on arrival.

It is said the returning officer had taken an off from work last weekend to visit his family that lives in Nanyuki, days after overseeing the just concluded August 9 elections.