GEORGE THUO: MP AND ICC WITNESS

Reporting George Thuo’s death this morning (Tuesday 19 November), The Star stated that the former Juja MP had been ‘expected to be a key witness for President Uhuru Kenyatta at the ICC’ and that the ICC Chief Prosecutor had alleged that Thuo ‘had attended a meeting at Blue Post Hotel in Thika where revenge attacks were allegedly planned for Naivasha and Nakuru’ following Kenya’s 2007 elections.

LAST MOMENTS IN THIKA BAR

The Star reports a Mr Paul Wainaina, the owner of the Porkies Bar in Thika where George Thuo was drinking just prior to his death, recalling what happened.

“Thuo called me at around 7pm asking me where I was”, said Wainana. “I told him I was at my bar. He said he was in Nairobi and wanted to hang out with me and watch Formula One racing at my bar as we talk”.

According to Wainana, Thuo arrived at the bar at about 8pm. “He ordered a Tusker Malt beer but after 15 minutes, he complained that he needed to remove his vest as he was feeling hot”.

Thuo was then directed to an office where he removed his vest and took it to his car parked outside ‘in the company of his personal aide, a Mr Rumba’ (the Daily Nation reports today) before rejoining his friend at the bar. Sometime between 8.30pm and 9pm he collapsed, hitting his head on a table as he fell.

The Daily Nation reports Wainana saying: “All of a sudden George was quiet and started leaning on one side. He toppled over the seat and was slightly hit by the table on the side of the head”.

Thuo was rushed to Thika Nursing Home and then to the Aga Khan Hospital in Nairobi but was pronounced dead around 10pm.

THUO HAD HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE PROBLEM

The Daily Nation states that Mr Thuo was a Johnnie Walker ‘lover’ but had stopped drinking whisky after he was diagnosed with high blood pressure.

The Daily Nation also reports that Thuo had attended his brother’s wedding and guests said he was jovial and danced for several hours. The Nation, however, does not explain whether the wedding had taken place just before Thuo’s collapse.

CID director Ndegwa Muhuro was quoted by The Star as saying, “We do not want to speculate over his death as investigations into the matter have been launched”.