Literary guru Ken Walibora’s burial took place in Bonde, Cherangany, on Wednesday.
Less than 15 people attended the burial, in accordance with government regulations limiting the size of public gatherings to contain the spread of Covid-19.
The burial took place as detectives began a probe into the cause of Walibora’s death.
Walibora drove from Lavington to Nairobi CBD before walking to downtown looking for a lorry truck to ferry some of his materials to his rural Cherangany home. He would then be accosted by some people, engaging him in hot pursuit to his death, preliminary investigations have shown.
Detectives with knowledge of the probe told the Star that CCTV footage showed that the Swahili professor parked his Mercedes Benz at Wabera Street at 9:30am last Friday before walking downtown. The officer who was among those who visited the scene of the alleged accident on Monday said the witness report indicates that at Muthurwa market, a group of thugs, including street children started chasing him.
It is at this point that he ran across Landhies Road. He successfully crossed the first lane but at the second one, a speeding 52-seater bus hit him, the witness accounts, according to the officer, indicated.
The detective, who requested anonymity, said that the news about Walibora’s death came to police attention after a group of street boys handed a traffic officer his car keys and ID card last Tuesday.
It is understood that the investigators have written to his mobile service provider to facilitate extracting his call data to piece his conversations prior to his death.
Joseph Kariuki, the head of serious crimes investigations confirmed to the Star that “they were taking the investigations seriously” without giving any further details.
The homicide department took over the probe from the traffic officers after postmortem examination found a deep knife wound between the thumb and his index finger on his left hand.
Chief government pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor had recommended further investigations to unearth what the veteran journalist could have gone through before he was hit by the matatu.
Other injuries on his body, such as a broken right arm, wounds on his jaw and head, he told the Star, were however consistent with a fall on tarmac after a hit by a speeding vehicle.
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