Raila Asks Interpol To Probe Lawyer Paul Gicheru's Death

Azimio la Umoja leader Raila Odinga has termed the death of the International Criminal Court (ICC) suspect, lawyer Paul Gicheru as mysterious and unexplained.

In a statement by Raila's spokesperson Prof Makau Mutua on Wednesday, September 28, Raila urged the International Police (Interpol) to take over the investigations launched after his demise, after he felt that he was not confident in the local investigative agencies.

"The pattern of mysterious and unexplained deaths, some of them gruesome and macabre, is extremely disturbing. To avoid cover-up in Kenya, we call upon the international investigative agencies including Interpol to lead the investigation," the statement read in part.

It went on to add that the case has international implications as Gicheru was in ICC custody at the time of his demise. Raila added that Kenya is a party to the ICC statute and should fully cooperate with the investigation.

The former Prime Minister condoled with Gicheru's family and demanded a probe into his son's illness.

"His son was reportedly rushed to hospital in unclear circumstances at the time of his father's death. Mr Odinga calls for a thorough and credible investigation to uncover Gicheru's death and his son's illness," Makau Mutua noted.

This is as police investigating Gicheru's death recovered CCTV footage among other pieces of evidence from his gated home in Karen.

An officer aware of the investigations revealed that the footage will assist them in identifying the last steps of the deceased employees and family members who were in the house on the day he died on Monday, September 26.

At that time, his wife, son visiting from the UK, his father-in-law and staff were reported to be present in the house.

Also recovered from Gicheru's Karen home were bedsheets, his office keys and two phones that were taken for forensic analysis to assess what communication pattern Gicheru used before his death.

Detectives also took some of the utensils that the lawyer used on the said day after he was reported to have passed away hours after eating lunch. His family found him with foam forming in his mouth inside his bedroom. 

Reports claimed that the son discovered his father unconscious on his bed, hours after complaining that he was feeling unwell. The son was later believed to have alerted the mother to check on the father, after which medical response teams from a nearby health facility were summoned. 

Gicheru's son collapsed after learning that his father had died, and was rushed to the hospital where he is recuperating, according to sources privy to the matter who revealed to Viral Tea on the night he died.

Meanwhile, the late lawyer's mother, Josephine Wambui, revealed that she last spoke to her son on Friday, September 23, the weekend before his demise.

DCI detectives at a crime scene. /FILE

"It's not easy for someone to just drop dead like that when he was not even sick," Wambui stated, adding that she had a lengthy conversation with him who did not at any point complain of any health complications.

Instead, she narrated that her son, who was full of life, checked on the family's progress. Wambui also dragged Gicheru's wife into the mysterious death of her son, demanding to know her side of the story on the matter.