The late Nairobi’s Kariobangi North MCA Joel Munuve died due to blood clot in the lungs.
A postmortem exercise conducted on the body at the Lee Funeral Home confirmed the cause.
Chief Government Pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor who led the process confirmed Munuve died due to a blood clot in his lungs.
The clot, which began in a vein in his left leg, travelled to the lungs and blocked a key artery, he said.
The postmortem showed that he lacked enough oxygen in his body at the time of his death.
Oduor explained Munuve died from a pulmonary embolism, a condition caused by a blood clot blocking a major artery in the lungs.
Oduor said the examination revealed that Munuve had insufficient oxygen in his body at the time of death.
“When we looked at the body of the late MCA, from external examination we saw that he had cyanosis (darkening of lips and fingernails). This is seen in people who are not getting enough oxygen in the body,” he said.
“There is a blood vessel called pulmonary artery where blood passes from the heart to the lungs to get oxygen. We saw a big blood clot there which was tightly adherent to the blood vessel. This is what is called pulmonary embolism which can cause sudden death.”
Dr Oduor said further examination was done to trace the origin of the blood clot.
“We tried to find where the blood clot was coming from and upon looking at the whole body, a blood vessel in the lower limb also on the left in the vein called popliteal vein, we saw a blood clot there,” he said.
More samples were collected for toxicology tests.
The exercise was conducted by a panel of seven pathologists.
The examination follows Munuve’s sudden death on Tuesday after a brief illness.
The process had attracted interest from political, medical, and investigative agencies.
Lawyer Danstan Omari confirmed the involvement of several parties, each represented by a pathologist.
“The first pathologist is Johansen Oduor representing the government. Two, the family has sent a pathologist. The third one is from AAR. The fourth pathologist is from County Assembly of Nairobi,” he said.
“The County Government of Nairobi (Executive wing) has also sent a pathologist, and lastly, the Member of Parliament for Embakasi East, Babu Owino, who has two pathologists,” he added.
Omari welcomed further involvement from those interested in the matter.
“Anybody who has an interest in this matter is free to come with their pathologist,” he said.
Aside from the seven pathologists, a wide range of specialists took part.
“Alongside the pathologists, there are more than 15 experts from the DCI, from the government analyst, from the forensics part and the scenes of crime,” Omari said.
In addition, a laboratory expert has been assigned to collect and examine samples.
“There is a representative of a lab that has been sent here to come and take samples. We shall be updating you as the progress goes,” he added.
Kileleshwa MCA Robert Alai said they had a briefing session with the medical team before the examination started.
“We have had a brief meeting with the doctors just to inform them of the kind of history the deceased had how he has been living in the recent past,” he said.
Alai said they also shared details about Munuve’s last known activities, including what he took as food and the meetings he attended.
Munuve was elected as an independent in the 2022 General Elections.