Test fails to reveal what killed ICC witness Meshack Yebei

What you need to know:

  • Yebei’s kin will have to wait for up to two weeks to ascertain the cause of his death.
  • On Friday, Yebei’s elder brother Moses Kisorio said the police had handed over the body to the family.

The autopsy conducted on the body of International Criminal Court witness Meshack Yebei cannot conclusively reveal the cause of his death.

Yebei’s kin will have to wait for up to two weeks to ascertain the cause of his death after samples of body parts were taken for parallel investigations by his family and the government.

Speaking at Moi Hospital Mortuary in Voi, Taita Taveta County on Friday, government pathologist Dr Ngali Mbuuko and the family pathologist Dr Ngumi Rugumi said they have taken into consideration all possible leads of his death but could not conclusively state the cause because the body was decomposed.

“We have conducted the post-mortem but the findings were not enough to lead us to the cause of his death,” said Dr Mbuuko.

He noted that Yebei’s body did not have any bullet wounds but he had injuries on his legs and hands. 

The samples were taken to a government chemist in Nairobi and the family would conduct a private autopsy at Lancet laboratories.

The family pathologist said they were looking at other possible causes of his death.  

“We will investigate whether he was poisoned or there were other abnormalities that caused his death,” said Dr Rugumi.

On Friday, Yebei’s elder brother, Mr Moses Kisorio, said the police had handed over the body to the family and it would be airlifted from Moi International Airport in Mombasa for burial in Eldoret, Uasin Gishu County.

“We will transport the body to Mombasa today (Friday) and then it will be airlifted to Eldoret. We have not set the burial date yet but we are in the process of giving our younger brother a decent send off,” he said. 

He added they were satisfied with how the police and medical doctors had collaborated.

Haki Africa chief executive Hussein Khalid, said the government should play its role in unearthing the cause of Yebei’s death.