Lawyer Karanja Kibage died out of cardiac arrest, autopsy reveals

Lawyer and businessman Karanja Kabage who died in a road accident last week.

Lawyer and businessman Karanja Kabage died out of cardiac arrest, a post mortem has shown.

The autopsy was conducted in the presence of police and family at the Lee Funeral Home on Saturday.

A family spokesman said they were satisfied with the results of the autopsy.

Police later announced the issue was now “almost settled” following the results of the autopsy.

“It is now an almost settled matter given the results,” said a senior officer aware of the results.

Kabage will be buried on Friday at his Mangu Rongai home in Nakuru County, his family said.

Police had earlier announced the deceased suffered a heart attack after they collected samples of vomit from his four-wheel drive car.

The incident happened on Friday last week along the Southern by-pass near Kibera, Nairobi as he drove towards Karen direction at about 10pm.

A team sent to assess the scene said they collected vomit from his car. This supports their theory of the heart attack.

Witnesses told police Kabage’s vehicle veered off the road along the Southern Bypass, slowed down and appeared to be making a u-turn before slightly hitting the pavement.

The impact could not cause death. His vehicle was slightly damaged and he was talking when he was found on Friday night.

Inspector General of Police Hillary Mutyambai said upon the intervention of a taxi driver and a Good Samaritan who stopped, Kabage asked to be taken to the Nairobi hospital, where he arrived unconscious.

Efforts by doctors to resuscitate him proved futile as he was later pronounced dead.

He is said to have spent his day on Friday at the first annual Mount Kenya High Level Uongozi Forum at Safari Park, where he was a panelist.

Kabage was also among leaders who attended Bob Collymore’s memorial service at All Saints Cathedral last Thursday.

Before his demise Karanja served in various capacities in the business sector.

He was a board member of the Kenya Private Sector Alliance, National Social Security Fund (NSSF), Labour Advisory Board, Energy Regulatory Authority Commission among others.

Kabage also served as a director at African Reinsurance Corporation and First Reinsurance Brokers Limited.

In 2017, he vied for the Nakuru senatorial seat and after failing to get Jubilee ticket he vied for Njoro constituency seat but lost.