Raphael Tuju’s nephew in court over Tony Ogunda’s killing

By Wahome Thuku

NAIROBI, KENYA: Police are yet to decide whether or not to charge a nephew of former minister Raphael Tuju’s wife with murder of a man said to be her lover.

Mr Cosmos Okoth Opondo was produced before the high Court in Nairobi on Friday in connection of the death of Tony Ogunda.

 But the police could not prefer murder charge against him saying the investigations were still incomplete.

They asked for seven days to complete investigations, which would determine whether or not to charge him.

Ogunda was found dead on Tuesday morning on a sofa where he spent the night. He had shared the house with Okoth, at the offices of Tuju’s Hope Foundation. The two had been out drinking that night.

Okoth who was the first to discover the lifeless body reported to the police at Kilimani and recorded a statement as a witness.

Police started treating him as a witness after an autopsy conducted on Ogunda’s body by Government pathologist Peter Ndegwa at the City Mortuary revealed he suffered internal bleeding to his brain following a trauma to the head caused by a blunt object.

Okoth was then arrested on Wednesday evening and recorded another statement. He told the police that there was a tussle in the house between Ogunda and other people on the night he died. In his first report he told the police he said he had tried to wake Mr Ogunda from sleep but he had not responded.

On Friday Okoth was escorted to the courtroom shortly before midday and waited calmly in the dock for his case to be called out. There were conflicting reports in court as to whether or not a post-mortem had been conducted on the body.

In his affidavit senior CID officer Richard Maobe claimed that the post-mortem was yet to be conducted.

He said they also needed to record statements from more witnesses and to complete the investigations.

The police asked to be allowed to hold Okoth for seven more days in their custody to assist in the investigations.

However State Counsel Tabitha Ouya told Lady Justice Roselyne Korir that the post-mortem had been conducted and the samples taken to the government chemist. The samples from the body were taken for toxicological tests to establish if Ogunda had any chemicals in his body that might have contributed to his death.

“We want an extension of time to determine whether to charge him with murder,” she said. The judge allowed the police to hold him in custody for seven more days and produce him in court on July 7.

Police have also interrogated Tuju’s wife Ruth Akinyi over the death of Okunda a former police officer who once served as the minister’s bodyguard.

Ogunda has been the subject of a divorce case between Tuju and his wife, which is still pending in court.