Autopsy reveals CID chief’s cause of death
Fallen Criminal Investigations Department (CID) director Bob Mtekama died of cardio-respiratory failure linked to acute kidney failure and severe wound infection, findings of a forensic autopsy have shown.
Ministry of Justice senior State advocate Limbikani Msiska confirmed the findings in a telephone interview on Tuesday.
He said the autopsy further shows Covid-19, pneumonia and “a poorly managed Type 2 diabetes mellitus” as other contributing factors.
However, the report also said a chemical substance consistent with an insecticide cypermethrin was detected in post-mortem tissues submitted to the Central Veterinary Laboratory in Lilongwe.
The report has, however, not stated what contribution the chemical substance may have made to the cause of death in the absence of its quantified tissue levels.
Said Msiska: “This chemical substance is found all over and can be found in people who work closely with it such as farmers. Also, traces of it are found in sprays that are used to keep out mosquitoes.”
In 2021, the High Court of Malawi ordered an inquest into the death of the renowned top detective after his family suspected foul-play.
Meanwhile, Msiska said the court is expected to present its findings in a week’s time.
A statement from the police in August 2020 indicated that Mtekama died at Blantyre Adventist Hospital after testing positive for Covid-19 and with an underlying condition of diabetes.
His body was taken for burial without healthcare workers as was the case with Covid-related deaths at the time, and was buried without following Covid-19 protocols.
Mtekama died while undertaking several high-profile investigations, including the 2014 murder of former Anti-Corruption Bureau director of corporate services Issa Njaunju.
