Cholmondeley family demands probe into death

Tom Cholmondeley who died on Tuesday while undergoing treatment at the MP Shah Hospital, Nairobi. [PHOTO: File]

The family of Naivasha ranch owner and Lord Delamere's heir, Thomas Cholmondeley, has demanded investigations into his death. They want doctors who attended to him questioned.

Police yesterday confirmed that they had received the complaints but had left the matter with the Kenya Medical and Dentist Board, which probes claims of negligence against medical practictioners. Police only get involved at a later stage, if the need arises.

Nairobi police boss Japheth Koome said there had been concern from some of Mr Cholmondeley's family members regarding his death.

"A postmortem will be conducted even as the medical board probes to unearth what happened. In the preliminary report, we understand there was an issue with the anesthesia that resulted in cardiac arrest," he said.

The body is still at the MP Shah Hospital where he was being treated.

Cholmondeley, a Kenyan farmer with British roots, died aged 48 after hip replacement surgery. He is the son of the fifth Lord Delamere, a scion of Kenya's British settler aristocracy. He lived in Naivasha and Nairobi.

MP Shah's Chief Executive Officer Anup Das said Cholmondeley was admitted on Tuesday for a medical procedure. Doctors at the hospital said he was admitted as a private patient and attended to by doctors from outside.

In April 2005, Cholmondeley was convicted of shooting dead stonemason Robert Njoya at his Soysambu Ranch near Lake Naivasha, claiming a case of intrusion. The case was dropped. And in May 2006, he shot and killed a poacher on his Soysambu estate. High Court judge Muga Apondi handed him an eight-month prison sentence for manslaughter after he submitted that he shot in self-defence.

He was released in October 2009.

Meanwhile, leaders and traders in Naivasha termed Cholmondeley's death a big blow to the economy of the lakeside town.

Condoling with the family, Naivasha MP John Kihagi said the farmer had in the last couple of years been very supportive. Mr Kihagi said the Delamere family had donated over 20 acres to the Naivasha sub-county for a public stadium.

"Before his death, Tom was involved in the construction of Bufallo Mall," he said. The family has embarked on funeral plans at his Soysambu home off the Nairobi-Nakuru highway.