A Kitui chief whose body was found by the roadside on Friday night died of natural causes, police have said.
Kyuso police commander John Losia said a postmortem conducted on the body of Itivanzou chief Daniel Kilonzo Muthengi on Sunday, revealed he died of natural causes.
"The autopsy was carried out on the body and it was established that he was neither poisoned nor was he attacked. The family is now free to start funeral arrangements," Losia said on the phone.
However, when we reached out to the chief's immediate superior, the Kyuso assistant county commissioner Eunice Mbithe Wambua, on Tuesday, she was reluctant to discuss the matter with the media.
Wambua said the best placed people to give any information on the chief's death was the office of the DCI in Kyuso.
The Star has independently established that even after the postmortem result, DCI sleuths are still probing the death.
DCI officers from Kyuso visited the home of the chief on Monday to trace his last moments before he met his death in Friday night.
"DCI officers visited the chief's home on Monday. They questioned some family members. They were also at Itivanzou market where they sought to question people who were having a drink with chief in a bar on the night he died," Wambua Ngunga, who belongs to the chief's clan, said.
The body of chief Muthengi was found by passersby near the gate of Itivanzou Day Secondary School at 11pm on Friday night. It was in a kneeling position.
Reports indicate that after a busy say on Friday, the chief met with friends in a bar at Itivanzou market area, but he excused himself to go home about four kilometres away. His body was discovered minutes after he left.
On Sunday, family members urged the government to help them unravel the cause of the chief's sudden and mysterious death.
The chief's father, Joseph Muthengi Kaivu, said knowing what led to the death of his son will help the family have closure.
He was speaking at his home in Kwanguru village, Kyuso district, in Kitui county.
Widow Kathini Kilonzo, said her husband's death was mysterious and shocking.
She said on Friday morning he was happy and appeared pretty fine when he left home for work at his office at Itivanzou market.
"My husband was in good shape when he left home on Friday morning. He helped with a number of domestic chores and we had breakfast together. He did not complain of feeling unwell," she said.
She said that her husband has served as the chief for 15 years.
