A four-bedroom house built by the late former Pepsi Cola director William Mutilangi (inset) at the family compound in Masii, Machakos County. His family believe there was foul play in his death, citing numerous inconsistencies in the death certificate.
In New York
It had been nearly six years since they last saw each other face-to-face, but they were often on the phone catching up on any number of issues.
Then one day last April, Moses Musilu called his long-time friend William Mulwa Mutilangi to catch up on their lives and relive old stories.
The call lasted only a few minutes, but the events that followed now have the feel of a sci-fi story.
“There was nothing to suggest there was a problem,” Musilu told the Nation Saturday on phone from his Raleigh, North Carolina, home.
“Now, I am not so sure. None of what they are saying makes sense. It’s a mystery.”
Web of mystery over William Mulwa Mutilangi death and assets.
The two were part of a tight-knit circle of four or five Kenyan friends who used to hang out in entertainment joints in New York and New Jersey for decades.
The group was mixed, but most of them were Kenyan immigrants. Mulwa, the Kenyan PepsiCo executive whose death three and a half months under cloudy circumstances, was the most successful of the lot. However, he never showed off.
With a PhD in food science and several patents to his name, Mulwa earned good money as a senior executive with a global brand beverage company.
His death stunned his family and friends alike, and the circumstances surrounding that death and subsequent immediate cremation of the body, even before his family members were informed, and the ensuing dispute, resembles something out of a sci-fi story.
Also Read: Fight over dead Pepsi millionaire's fortune intensifies as Tanzanian 'heir' takes over house
Mulwa, who hailed from Masii in Machakos County but had been living in the US for the past four decades, died on October 16, 2023, at Hudson Valley Hospital in Cortlandt Manor village and part of the larger New York Presbyterian healthcare system.
He had been admitted to the facility a week earlier and was 67 years old by the time he died.
Mulwa had no close relatives with him in New York at the time, and his siblings in Kenya have since raised doubt about reports his death was caused by cardiac arrest linked to prostate cancer.
The family believes there was foul play, citing the numerous inconsistencies in the death certificate issued by the hospital and the role of two individuals who last saw Mulwa before his death — Peter Nderitu Githinji, a 57-year-old pharmacy technician from New Jersey, and a lady whose identity remains unclear.
A big part of the dispute, however, involves the validity of a power of attorney Githinji used to order Yorktown Funeral Home to cremate Mulwa’s remains just weeks after his death.
Japheth Matemu, a New York-based lawyer for the family, said the power of attorney, drawn by Nairobi lawyer GJ Kahuthu,failed to meet professional standards and he wants to know how the funeral home accepted what is potentially a forged document.
From left: Mutilangi siblings Edward, Vincent and William during their mother's funeral on November 3, 2013. William died in the US on October 16, 2023. A Tanzanian man claiming to be his son has sought control over William's assets in Kenya and the US. Family archives
Since no autopsy was done on the body, it may never be known whether there were other potential secondary death causes and the people who should explain why an autopsy was not ordered have so far refused to talk, said Matemu.
He said the timeline and sequence of events needs to be addressed, from when Mulwa was admitted to the hospital to when he was moved to a rehabilitation facility — North Westchester Restorative Therapy and Nursing Center — before returning to the hospital where he died shortly thereafter.
Also, not only has the lawyer made an incident report to local, state, and US federal law enforcement agencies to investigate the matter, but also Matemu said he has sent letters to Githinji, the hospital, and the funeral home demanding clarification for all the issues raised.
In the meantime, Mulwa’s friends — Musilu, Jeff Ngila, John Mulili — continue to reminisce while thinking of what went wrong, and what they could have done. They are hoping for satisfactory answers from relevant authorities.
“I had known him for 30 years. He was always happy. We never saw him complain,” Musilu said.
Others agreed.
Ngila said: “He was my friend from when we were young until his death.”
