EACC petition lawyer found dead in pool
What you need to know:
- Body found at the Bamburi Sea Front Chalets in Mombasa on Tuesday afternoon.
- Family announces that a preliminary report by a government pathologist showed that the immediate cause of death was drowning.
The man who filed a petition in Parliament seeking the dismissal of top Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission officers has been found dead.
The body of 39-year-old Geoffrey Oriaro, of Oriaro and Company Advocates, was found in a swimming pool at the Bamburi Sea Front Chalets in Mombasa.
His brother, Mr Edwin Oriaro, said the body was found by a hotel attendant at 3.45pm on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, the lawyer's family announced that a preliminary report by a government pathologist showed that the immediate cause of death was drowning.
According to the family, Mr Oriaro had stayed on in Mombasa after attending this year’s Law Society of Kenya annual conference at the Leisure Lodge Beach and Golf Resort in Diani, Kwale County, between August 12 and 14.
The father of three had been in Mombasa since August 8.
They said that members of his family, including a nephew and a sister, later joined him at the Bamburi Sea Front Chalets.
Mr Edwin Oriaro told journalists that on Tuesday afternoon, the lawyer was at the swimming pool while his sister and nephew were indoors.
POLICE REPORT
Earlier, the family said it was waiting for a report from the police. They said they wanted to know the circumstances that led to the lawyer’s death.
“Definitely, there are questions which will need to be answered after the post-mortem examination,’’ said Mr Edwin Oriaro, who described his brother as a good swimmer.
He said the advocate had been a frequent visitor to the hotel for the past three years.
When the Nation visited the hotel on Wednesday, police officers were interviewing workers.
A Directorate of Criminal Investigations officer took a statement from Mr Oriaro’s widow at Pandya Hospital. The body was being kept at the hospital’s mortuary.
Kisauni Deputy OCPD Walter Abondo said investigations were under way.
Mr Oriaro came to the limelight when he filed a petition that led to the ousting of Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) chairman Mumo Matemu and his deputy, Irene Keino.
He argued that the two were incapable of leading the war against corruption.
Mr Matemu bowed out in May while Ms Keino and Prof Jane Onsongo, a commissioner, quit in April and March, respectively.
MPs voted in favour of removing them and President Kenyatta agreed with Parliament, paving the way for the exit of the commissioners.
WAS DISBANDED
Mr Matemu quit in May to avoid facing a tribunal that had been formed by President Uhuru Kenyatta to investigate him and the other commissioners.
Commissioners Keino and Onsongo quit, citing pressure from outside forces.
The tribunal was disbanded just days after it was formed as there was no one to be investigated.
What followed was a circus of sorts.
All state officials arraigned for corruption challenged the legality of the commission to prosecute the cases, arguing that without commissioners, the EACC was not properly constituted.
Before the dust settled, the National Assembly's Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs tabled a Bill to amend the EACC Act to increase the number of commissioners from three to five and reduce their work from full to part-time.
During the debate, Kiminini MP Chris Wamalwa successfully introduced an amendment that sought to remove the agency’s CEO, Mr Halakhe Waqo, and his deputy, Mr Michael Mubea.
The President is yet to sign the Bill into law.
Other stakeholders have opposed the amendment, saying it was not passed in good faith as it was meant to punish EACC bosses for investigating lawmakers.
