Detectives seek call data in Walibora death probe

Detectives have requested for the call records of fallen literary icon Ken Walibora as they try to unravel the mystery of his death in Nairobi.

The Directorate of Criminal Investigations at the weekend wrote to a mobile service provider, requesting it to retrieve the records as the homicides unit took over the interrogation.

Prof Walibora’s body was found at the Kenyatta National Hospital mortuary on Wednesday, with records there indicating his body was booked in on April 10.

The call records are crucial to help establish where he was heading to when he was hit by a bus on Landhies Road.

“We took over the investigations from the Traffic department just the other day and we are going full throttle with it on Monday (today) because from what we have gathered, it may not have been an ordinary accident,” said Mr Joseph Kariuki, the DCI head of serious crimes.

Mr Kariuki said they would also rely on CCTV footage from the Integrated Command, Control and Communication Directorate (IC3), to corroborate claims that he was being chased by unknown people before he was hit as he crossed the road.

The footage will also provide a clue about the identity of the person who inflicted the stab wound on him.

Police investigation into Prof Walibora’s death had initially focused on the accident.

The bus driver who allegedly knocked him had recorded a statement and was released. But he was summoned back to the police station to record a fresh statement.

The course of the investigations have since changed after a post-mortem examination on the body of the Riara University lecturer showed he had stab wounds.

The Homicide Unit took over the investigations on Saturday after Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor revealed the nature of the trauma on the right hand were inconsistent with what an accident would have caused.

Prof Walibora will be buried in Cherangany, Trans Nzoia County, on Wednesday.