Ex-Youth Fund boss Namuyes last minutes, MP recounts

Former Youth Fund boss Catherine Namuye collapsed, gasped for breath for a few minutes on the floor before dying, Citizen Digital has learnt.

According to one of her neighbours, a vocal Woman Representative, Catherine Namuye had sent her house help to a mobile money service operator, and during the nanny’s short absence, she (Namuye) fell on the floor with no one to rescue her despite calls for help.

The vocal Woman Rep, who was at the Dara Springs Apartments in Kileleshwa during the incident, recounted Namuye’s house help screaming for help after returning to the house and finding the ex-Youth Fund boss motionless.

“It is sad we have lost Namuye. We were not so close, but every time we’d bump into each other, we’d greet, talk like old buddies would,” said the MP.

“On the fateful Wednesday morning, she had sent her house help to a nearby M-Pesa shop, but when the young woman returned to the house, she found her boss lying on the floor, weak and subdued by what she termed a respiratory problem.

“Helpless and confused, the house help phoned Namuye’s relatives to urgently call an ambulance. Sadly, when paramedics arrived at Namuye’s Dara Springs apartment and examined her, they confirmed she had died.”

The MP said she alerted the police, who arrived at the scene before the body was moved to the Lee Funeral Home pending a postmortem examination.

Preliminary investigations show that Catherine Namuye may have succumbed to a breathing complication, most likely a cardiac arrest.

Prior to her death, Catherine Namuye was facing 12 counts of corruption charges alongside former Youth Fund board chairman Bruce Odhiambo. They were last year charged alongside directors of Quorandum Ltd, Mukuria Ngamau and Doreen Waithera.

Catherine Namuye and Bruce Odhiambo were accused of receiving Ksh4.5 million and Ksh1.8 million in kickbacks to facilitate unlawful payment of Ksh180 million from the Youth Enterprise Development Fund to Quorandum Limited for services not rendered.