On Thursday, April 16, detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), visited former Tusker Project Fame (TPF) and gospel musician Ruth Matete's home where a gas explosion that led to her husband, John Apewajoye's death is said to have taken place.
According to Daily Nation, Matete, who is two months pregnant, led detectives, her lawyer Robbert Odanga, scene-of-crime officers and officials from the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, to the scene where the explosion occurred.
The team is said to have collected exhibits including a gas cylinder and other samples to establish what happened.
The musician also wrote a statement, giving an account of what took place on March 30, 2020, at around 5 pm.
In the statement, Matete cited that the husband got burnt while trying to light up their 6kg gas cylinder after a refill. She added that the gas was full and he was trying to release some.
“Immediately after, he tried to light the gas and that is when it exploded,” the musician stated.
She added that she started screaming and run towards the bedroom to get a duvet to cover her husband, who, at the time, was only wearing a pair of trousers.
It is then that Apewajoye was rushed to Bellevue Shalom Hospital where he was admitted at the High Dependency Unit before he developed complications and was rushed to Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) on Sunday, April 5.
Matete alleged that medics at KNH told her, that it was wrong of Bellevue Hospital to admit her husband without a burns unit.
"They said that my husband had not been receiving enough water at Bellevue Hospital which led to his kidney failure. They also failed to take care of his wounds so they became septic,” she continued.
Matete's lawyer stated that a post-mortem would be conducted to determine what led to Apewajoye's death, once the Nigerian Embassy in Nairobi granted permission.
“The embassy is still holding the body at KNH mortuary after a video was released by one of its citizens questioning the circumstances behind this death," Odanga told Daily Nation.
The postmortem would help to clear the air, he stated.
Additionally, he noted that Matete had already filed complaints against the gas company and Bellevue Hospital.
Further, he stated that Bellevue hospital stated that Matete's husband had suffered 40 per cent burns while KNH indicated he had suffered 60 per cent.
The investigation came days after Matete was accused of covering up her husband's death by a man named Jesse McJessy who claimed to be a friend and manager to the deceased.
