This archive report was first published on 24 September 2021.
On Wednesday morning, Dr James Gakara was found unconscious in his room, with used syringes and vials of drugs discovered in the house. He was rushed to the Nakuru Level Five Hospital, where he died while undergoing treatment.
As the family of Dr Gakara sought to conduct a postmortem, they encountered a series of challenges. The hospital demanded that they produce documents to prove their relationship to the doctor, citing legal technicalities that required a next of kin affidavit.
"We came here in the morning expecting that the postmortem will be conducted but we were sent away to bring the documents," said family spokesman Burton Njoroge. The family had to obtain an affidavit to rectify the situation, but by the time they submitted it, the pathologist had already left.
According to Nakuru West DCIO Stephen Ambani, the officers who rushed Dr Gakara to the hospital were more concerned with saving his life than with obtaining his details. "By the time we were getting his details from his relatives and documents, he had already been booked in as an unknown person to allow doctors attend to him. The details will be amended through the right procedure," said Ambani.
Dr Gakara was the main suspect in the murder of his two children, who were found dead in their apartment last Saturday. The family's efforts to conduct a postmortem are ongoing, with the hope that the hospital will change the name in the file to facilitate the process.
