Death of Kabuga’s doctor remains mystery
Circumstances in which a doctor claimed to have treated Rwandese fugitive Felicien Kabuga died have remained unclear.
The family of Col (rtd) Dr Peter Rakwach declined to talk to reporters as they met at his Nakuru home on Wednesday.
Dr Rakwach who retired from the army in 2002, is said to have treated Kabuga in military facilities while still in service.
His death brings to three the number of people linked to Kabuga who have died mysteriously. (READ: Doctor linked to Kabuga dies in Nairobi)
New evidence unearthed by NTV’s investigative reporter John Allan Namu indicates that a soldier who was in Mr Kabuga’s security detail is missing.
Mr Michael Sarunei, according to a relative, disappeared in 2009 at a time when he was serving in a squad guarding the Rwandese genocide fugitive.
He is said to have been picked up by people in a GK LandRover after pictures he had secretly taken of Kabuga were found in his house.
On Wednesday, Dr Rakwach’s widow, Anne blocked reporters from entering the family’s Milimani Estate home in Nakuru town, where relatives and friends were meeting.
“Journalists are not saying the truth about the death of my husband. He was just stressed and died from natural causes,” she said.
A family member who did not want to be named said: “Dr Rakwach died of a heart attack. Shortly before his death, he looked sickly like somebody who was undergoing stress,” he told Nation by phone.
Dr Rakwach’s family runs a thriving hospital business in Nakuru. According to a close friend, Dr Rwakwach was diabetic. “He must have died from diabetic related complications,” he told Nation.
He described Dr Rakach “as very private person who would go on the defensive whenever he was asked about personal matters”. “He never used to attend doctors’ conferences and get-togethers,” the doctor said.
NTV also uncovered shocking new details about the mysterious death of Michael Munuhe, an FBI informer, whose body was found in the Gitu area of Karen in Nairobi on January 13, 2003.
His brother, Josephat Mureithi Gichuki, is convinced that Munuhe was murdered because he was about to reveal Kabuga’s whereabouts to the US security agency.
The police verdict was suicide, he says, but all evidence in the room where his brother was found pointed to a violent and bloody confrontation.
Months after he was buried, a relative was sorting through his old clothes when he found a three-page letter written by Munuhe.
It detailed how he was abducted one Wednesday night at the Safari Park Hotel exit by three armed men and driven for nearly four hours in the locked boot of a car.
It is undated, but Munuhe’s elder brother was able to figure out that it was written in late December 2002, a few days before his death.
On the night he was kidnapped, he ended up in a dark room where he was beaten and tortured to reveal information about his relations with the FBI.
Eventually, he was taken to a room where he came face-to-face with Kabuga, who was seated with three other men.
Munuhe wrote: “Kabuga told me about the tapes they had on my conversations with Mr Scott (believed to be his FBI contact) and three people. He criticised me for betraying him and Cheruiyot”.
The name of the Internal Security permanent secretary at the time, Mr Zakayo Cheruiyot has featured often in stories about Kabuga’s refuge in Kenya.
However, Mr Cheruiyot, now the MP for Kuresoi, has always denied any involvement. Dr Rwakwach died at MP Shah Hospital on Tuesday evening. His son, Dr Victor Rwakwach, said his father had died, but refused to give details.
The doctor on duty at MP Shah Hospital, Dr John Magomere, confirmed Dr Rakwach died on Tuesday evening. “He was taken to the ICU on Friday and the family was notified,” he said. He too, refused to give any details.
A letter on the letter head of the Kenya Armed Forces 3rd Battalion in Nakuru asked Dr Rakwach to treat a man by the name of Sadiki Nzakobi believed to be Mr Kabuga.
The letter bears the name of an SK Kamau, and signed on behalf of the permanent secretary in the department of Defence. We could not ascertain whether indeed such an individual ever worked at the Ministry of Defence.
The NTV investigation unearthed details of the likely whereabouts of Mr Kabuga, whom the international community has accused the Kenyan government of hiding.
The investigations revealed that Mr Kabuga may still be in Kenya under the protection of security organs, including the military and the National Security Intelligence Service.
