DCI Probes Meridian Equator Hospital After Botched Procedure That Killed a Lawyer

What was meant to be a routine hospital visit has spiralled into a chilling mystery that has now drawn in homicide detectives, shaken the legal fraternity, and placed a Nairobi hospital under intense scrutiny.

On the morning of December 18, 2025, 32-year-old advocate Christopher Ntogaiti Mwenda walked into Meridian Equator Hospital in South C for a scheduled endoscopy.

Friends and family say he was vibrant, optimistic, and unconcerned.

He had complained only of mild stomach discomfort and had been reassured the previous day that his health was otherwise normal. From the waiting room, Mwenda texted and called relatives, calm and composed, unaware he was walking into what would become his final hours.

Shortly before noon, the calm shattered. Mwenda’s brother, Joram Muriuki, listed as next of kin, received a cryptic call from the hospital. He was told nothing about his brother’s condition, only instructed to rush to the facility immediately. When he arrived, panic set in. Hospital staff offered no coherent explanation, no clear updates, and no access to his brother. Hours dragged on in agonising uncertainty as the family was left pacing corridors, repeatedly stonewalled.

At around 3 pm, the nightmare was confirmed. Christopher Mwenda was dead.

In the immediate aftermath, the family was given a verbal account that raised more questions than answers. According to Law Society of Kenya advocate Philip Mwangale, the attending doctor, Kevin Murimi, told them Mwenda’s condition deteriorated moments after he administered propofol as an anaesthetic. The doctor allegedly claimed Mwenda suffered a sudden drop in blood pressure, a racing heartbeat, shallow breathing, and oxygen desaturation. He said he abandoned the procedure and spent nearly an hour attempting resuscitation.

That account, the family would later learn, did not withstand scrutiny.

A post-mortem conducted the following day by Chief Government Pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor painted a far more disturbing picture.

In the presence of representatives from Meridian Equator Hospital and the Law Society of Kenya, the autopsy revealed that no endoscopy had been performed at all.

This directly contradicted the hospital’s written records. Pathologists concluded that Mwenda died from hypoxia caused by respiratory depression following an adverse reaction to an anaesthetic drug.

Even more alarming were the injuries discovered.

The autopsy documented significant trauma to the back of the tongue, the trachea, and the oesophagus, injuries consistent with repeated and forceful intubation attempts.

To the pathologists, these findings suggested a desperate struggle to manage a collapsing airway as the patient slipped into fatal oxygen deprivation.

As investigators dug deeper, contradictions multiplied. Dr Murimi’s written report differed from what he had initially told the family. While he verbally cited administering 20 millilitres of propofol, the official report stated 10 millilitres.

The report also claimed the procedure had been completed and had revealed gastric ulcers, findings that the autopsy categorically disproved.

The family says their ordeal did not end with Mwenda’s death. For hours, the hospital allegedly refused to release his body or provide medical records.

It was not until midnight, after the intervention of the Law Society of Kenya and officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, that the records were released and the body handed over.

Now, what began as a simple medical visit has escalated into a full-scale criminal investigation.

The DCI is probing whether gross negligence, falsification of records, or unlawful acts led to the young lawyer’s death.

As detectives comb through statements and medical files, Meridian Equator Hospital faces mounting pressure to explain how a healthy young advocate entered its doors for a routine procedure and left in a body bag.

For Mwenda’s family and colleagues, the questions are relentless. How did a routine endoscopy turn fatal. Why do the hospital’s accounts not match medical evidence. And most chilling of all, was Christopher Ntogaiti Mwenda’s death preventable.