Mystery drug in Mutula’s blood

By MARTIN MUTUA

NAIROBI, KENYA: Investigations into the death of Senator Mutula Kilonzo have taken a new turn after traces of a second drug were discovered in blood samples.

This follows the earlier discovery of sildenafil citrate in the late Makueni Senator’s blood. The probe is now expected to determine how the second drug got into his body and whether the two prescription medications caused his death.

Impeccable sources told The Standard On Saturday that forensic experts at the Government Chemist have concluded tests on samples taken from Mutula’s body and filed a report with the new findings. Police investigators collected the report from the offices of the Government Chemist on Friday last week.

Our sources say the document reports the blood samples showed traces of both sildenafil citrate and ephedrine hydrochloride. The former is used to treat high blood pressure or prescribed as Viagra for male problems. The latter is a stimulant used to treat patients with asthma or a blocked nose.

Effects of two drugs

Toxicologists think the combination of the two drugs might explain why Mutula bled through various openings and even vomited blood. The other explanation offered was tuberculosis, which can cause sudden death.

Experts say ephedrine HCL works like adrenaline, raising blood pressure with more prolonged though less potent action. When used with other stimulants, like coffee or cough products, it may increase the risk of fatal side effects, including stroke, heart attack and seizures.

Investigators are, however, puzzled as to how and where the ephedrine got into Mutula’s body. The prescription drug is not one of the 100-or-so items that police collected from his Kwa Kyelu ranch in Machakos County. “All the drugs we collected from the house are just normal drugs which most people have in their houses like pain killers,” our source says. “But none of those were found in his body when we carried out (toxicology) tests.”

Forensic experts at the Government Chemist say they also conducted DNA tests on the samples provided by Police to ascertain their origin.

“Although we were not requested to carry out DNA tests, we did so just to be sure the samples were his and not those of someone else,” our source says. Just before Mutula’s burial, one Ms Eunice Nthenya moved to court seeking a DNA test to confirm he was father to her seven-year-old son.

Family members and others have said Mutula, 64, was in good health. A gym instructor at the Hilton Hotel says the former minister seemed well during a session a day before he was found dead at his Valhalla home. It is, therefore, unclear whether he took ephedrine HCL as part of a prescription medication or as a non-prescription herbal or dietary supplement. Other uses for the drug include treating breathing problems and allergies. Experts also say the drug could have been administered by a third party without his knowledge.

 ’Unusual’ damage

Preliminary investigations reported exclusively in The Standard On Saturday three weeks ago revealed “unusual” damage to Mutula’s liver and no signs of poison in his blood, vomit and other body tissues. Pathologists were trying to tell what could have caused the damage. A source that attended the post-mortem examination on April 30 said, “the liver looked dry, as if it had been burnt.”

Mutula vomited food and blood in his room sometime before he was found dead on the morning of April 27 this year. Samples tested at the Government Chemist found no known poison. Tests for radioactivity to rule out poisoning with agents like polonium-210 were also negative.

Suspicions immediately surrounded his sudden demise with family, friends and acquaintances testifying that he was “in good health”. At the time, none of them spoke of treatment for any illness.

An autopsy was carried out in the presence of nine pathologists, including Chief Government Pathologist Johansen Oduor and a British sudden death specialist, Ian Calder, representing the family. Dr Calder is supervising tests of liver and body hair samples. The team declined to release their findings, saying they would await toxicology tests that would take “eight to ten weeks”.

Dr Oduor and his colleagues were recently criticised for not waiting for toxicology reports before releasing the results of a post-mortem on Prof George Saitoti and five others.

The test results eventually made no difference to the official finding they did from injuries sustained in a helicopter crash.

Born in Mbooni Constituency in 1948, Mutula became chairman of the Law Society of Kenya, a Senior Counsel and a Cabinet minister, having served in the Justice and Nairobi Metropolitan Development ministries. Prior to his election as Makueni County’s first senator, he served as Mbooni’s representative in the Tenth Parliament. He was a key leader in the Coalition for Reform and Democracy (Cord), led by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.

 He is most recently remembered for his role in pushing for the passing and implementation of the 2010 Constitution. As Justice minister Mutula unsuccessfully fought to pass a Bill seeking to set up a tribunal to try suspects of post-election violence locally.