Outgoing Mata Ward MCA Chanzu Khamadi dead

 Chanzu Khamadi. [File, Standard]

Outgoing Mata Member of County Assembly (MCA) in Taita-Taveta, Chanzu Khamadi, is dead.

Khamadi, who defended his seat on a Ford Kenya party ticket but lost in the just concluded elections, died on August 18, 2022, of high blood pressure.

Confirming the death of the Khamadi, nominated MCA Frank Mmare said the legislator died while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Moshi, Tanzania.

According to colleagues, the Khamadi was due to undergo surgery after sustaining serious injuries last year in a road accident near Makatu trading centre.

Khamadi was critically injured after his vehicle hit a giraffe that was crossing the road, killing his female passenger instantly.

According to Taita Taveta Deputy County Commissioner Josepha Maina, Khamadi lost control of the vehicle and veered off the road after hitting the giraffe.

He was rushed to Padya Hospital in Mombasa County where he slipped into a coma before being discharged recently after he recuperated. He, soon after, presented his nomination papers to the IEBC in a wheelchair.

Khamadi's death takes to five the number of leaders who have died in the county in recent years.

In August 2021, the assembly was thrown into a state of mourning following the death of Mahoo Ward representative Habel Sagurani. The MCA died at a Mombasa hospital after a battle with Covid-19.

ODM nominated MCA Joyce Mwangoji had succumbed to the virus four months earlier.

That same year, Wundanyi-Mbale Ward MCA Beatrice Mwabili, the only female elected legislator in the 2017 general election, succumbed to gallbladder cancer while undergoing treatment in Nairobi.

In December 2019, the assembly lost ODM nominated legislator Anastanzia Wakesho Mombo to breast cancer. Mombo had been battling the disease for nearly four years.