Chief Government pathologist Johansen Oduor (Centre) with City Mortuary attendants view the body of IEBC ICT Director Chris Msando on July 31, 2017. [Photo: the-star.co.ke]His name always pops up every time there is a high profile murder or in events of mass fatality disasters.Chief government Pathologist Dr Johansen Oduor is again in the headlines following the cold blood murder of Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) ICT Director Chris Msando.Not long ago, he was in the news as his services were sought to help unravel the sudden death of late Interior CS Joseph Nkaissery.But who really is this man?Well, according to an interview he had with the Standard in 2016, Oduor is a medical doctor who started his career as a medical officer in Nyamira Hospital.He has a medical degree, master's degree in pathology and training in forensic pathology. His day begins at 5am where he does some reading up to 6am then prepares to be in the office by 7.30am. "I then have meetings with my staff, respond to emails, and head for autopsies during the days that I am on autopsy duty. Other days, I head to courts to testify as an expert witness," Oduor told the Standard during the interview.He added: "There is also a lot of travel within the country to either attend to court, exhumations, autopsies, technical support to pathologists in the counties and meetings. When I get home in the evenings, I either read or do my reports up to about midnight. Weekends are spent with my family when I am not busy."Oduor says being a government pathologist can be challenging especially if the dead is a high-profile personality. "There are also many conspiracy theories with lots of suspicions, especially due to the fact that you work for the government. We have, however, come up with a system where wherever there is a high-profile death, my team and I first hold a conference with the relatives and other involved parties so that I can give them time to look for a pathologist of their choice, a sort of a quality control," he says.He notes that having worked with specialists from many parts of the world, Kenya has the ability to perform world-class autopsies and, therefore, no need to bring foreign experts.The most unforgettable autopsy he has ever done so far, he says, was one of a nine-year-old girl who died after being sexually and physically abused by an uncle for years until she passed on. "The uncle sneaked the body into the mortuary as a case of natural death. The morticians, however, noted the injuries and brought it to my attention. We did the autopsy and collected evidence. The girl was malnourished, was anaemic and had many injuries, old and recent. As a result of our work, we were able to get the uncle arrested," Oduor saysOduor is a 'very social man' who occasionally enjoys 'nyama choma' with friends and believes there is life after death.

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