• Chief government pathologist doubts the role vehicle accident played in death
• Further investigation will reveal how the Swahili professor got stabbed, he says
Image: MOSES MWANGI
Veteran author and Riara University lecturer Ken Walibora had a broken right arm, an autopsy examination has shown.
His left hand had a deep knife cut wound between the thumb and index finger, it also found.
Chief government pathologist Johansen Oduor told the Star on Sunday the postmortem examination revealed the prolific writer had sustained injuries on his head and jaw “consistent with a fall after a possible hit”.
He said the exercise also showed he had lost two teeth and his head had a blood clot.
The revelation of the examination, especially the deep cut on the hand, had instigated speculation there could be some foul play surrounding Walibora’s death.
But Oduor said the examination of the body strongly suggests he was hit by a vehicle as had been initially reported.
“The injuries on the body are consistent with one hit by a vehicle, save for the deep cut between his thumb and index finger of his left hand,” he said.
Oduor said further criminal investigation would reveal how the Swahili professor encountered the knife stab, sharing his doubt of the role the vehicle accident could have played in his death.
News of Walibora's death emerged last Wednesday, with available information indicating he was hit by a speeding 52-seater matatu along Nairobi’s Landhies road.
Unverified reports also suggested he was hit by the bus while trying to cross the road to safety as he was being chased by five unidentified people.
DCI's homicide department announced that it has launched a criminal probe into the circumstances that led to the death of the veteran journalist.
Reports have also emerged indicating after he was hit, an ambulance from a reputable charity declined to rush him to hospital, despite being called.
The reports alleged Walibora was then taken to the Kenyatta National Hospital, where, it is said, he would be in the emergency section for over 12 hours unattended, enduring excruciating pain and internal bleeding, before eventually dying.
St John's Ambulance, which had been accused on media reports of ignoring calls to save the professor's life, on Saturday night dismissed the allegations, asserting that none of their ambulances was on Landhies road on that day.
"St John's Ambulance was not alerted by about the incident, neither did it move along Landhies Road or adjacent routes where the accident is said to have occurred," it said in a statement.
"This has been confirmed after checking all the St John's Ambulance centre call logs and ambulance GPS movement on the said date."
A memorial service was conducted on Saturday and he will be buried on Wednesday at his rural home in Bonde, Cherangany, Trans Nzoia county.