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Government Pathologist, Dr Johansen Oduor
The Chief Government Pathologist, Dr Johansen Oduor says it is not the duty of his department to release postmortem results.
“We carry out postmortem on behalf of the police. We then write the report which we hand over to them. They (police) decide on the way forward. People think we are the ones who hide the final findings, but that is not the true position,” states Dr Oduor.
He explained that it was difficult to conceal the results because apart from relying on government pathologists, many families seek the services of independent pathologists who join the government team in conducting an autopsy before writing a joint report.
Because of the involvement of independent pathologists, families are able to know the cause of death. He also accused some families of crying foul when the results do not reflect their expectations. “When they see the results are embarrassing, they start talking negatively and politicising the matter, casting pathologists in bad light,” laments Dr Oduor.
Police spokeswoman Zipporah Mboroki insists that police have never withheld any results. “After investigations, especially of high ranking people, results are always released. The decision to make results public is exclusively that of the affected family,” notes Mboroki.
Postmortem results can be made public only when there’s a public inquest into a death.
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