On the 16th February, 2020, Kenyans were shocked to learn of the death of University Of Nairobi (UoN) church history Lecturer, Prof Gilbert Edwin Meshack Ogutu fondly known as GEM apparently by suicide.
It is now emerging that the case seems to have been a murder and not suicide.
“There’s a possibility Prof GEM Ogutu was murdered…it doesn’t make sense that a govt pathologist says he waits for DCI to release their report for him to conclude his report. Is someone trying to manipulate the results?”, pondered the source.
It was first reported that the professor had had a quarrel with his wife who left for Kisumu before his body was discovered by the houseboy the next morning. The death of the university don was announced/confirmed by the area chief Gordon Opundo.
The source told Kenyanbulletin.com that the houseboy was a friend of a chief Gordon Opundo who was not in good terms with the don who was described as ‘generally aloof”.
“Then there was an ugly exchange between the 2nd wife and son (of the late first wife) in Bondo. I gather that Ogutu was not in good terms with the Chief (Gordon Opundo) who had reported his death as suicide”, the source said.
The source added, “DCI need to do a thorough job here”.
The media reports of GEM’s death stated that he had hanged himself on the window, something that smelt curious to our source.
“Doesn’t make sense that he would hanging by the window…how high was the window and was it high enough to make it possible for Prof to hang himself without his legs touching the floor?”, the source said
The source continued, “This is my theory, the second wife (the first died last year) might be knowing what happened and perhaps was involved. The Chief is an accomplice, the farm boy knows something…probably did the job and then they rushed to the media to push the suicide narrative”.
Synopsis
Prof Ogutu’s body was discovered hanging from his bedroom window with a piece of cloth tied around his neck by his farmhand at 9 am on Monday 17th February, 2020.
The farmhand had said that the university don was well on Saturday night and retired to bed at around midnight.
Professor Gilbert Ogutu, an associate professor of Church history was a staunch believer in preserving African traditions. This is well documented in his widely read book, ‘The Land is Dying’.
Prof Ogutu served in the Luo Council of Elders as Secretary-General for more than 12 years, offering wise counsel to the community.
Prof Ogutu’s peers and former students describe him as a man of great wit and humour.
