Kenyan police:Venezuelan diplomat murdered

— The acting Venezuelan envoy to Kenya was found dead at her official residence in Nairobi, and police said Friday that she was murdered by strangulation.

Nairobi Police Chief Anthony Kibuchi said that the diplomat killed has been identified as Olga Fonseca Gimenez, the charge d’affaires and acting Venezuelan ambassador in Kenya.

Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Fonseca reported to the embassy in Nairobi on July 15 to replace Ambassador Gerardo Carillo-Silva.

Kibuchi said investigations into the death had begun and police had questioned two staff members at the residence.

Fonseca arrived in Kenya earlier this month to replace Carrillo-Silva, who had fled the country after three maleworkers at the ambassador’s residence filed a complaint with the police accusing him of sexual harassment, a lawyer representing the workers said.

Ngure Mbugua said he started representing the workers after police did not act against the complaints. He said he pressed Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ask the Venezuelan government to waive the diplomat’s immunity against prosecution so that theenvoy could be arrested and charged in Kenya or Venezuela. Mbugua said Carrillo-Silva fled before the process was complete.

He said that after Fonseca’s arrival, the workers told him that Fonseca demanded that the workers withdraw their sexual-abuse complaints against her predecessor.

Mbugua said that on Tuesday that Fonseca called for a meeting between him and herlawyer in which she insisted that she would fire the workers who lodged the complaints because of insubordination.

Mbugua said Fonseca’s lawyer, Njeri Mucheru-Oyatta, advised her against firing the workers because they have contracts. Mucheru-Oyatta confirmed their meeting and said in the early stages of the investigation it was impossible to tell the motives behind her murder.

Front Section, Pages 8 on 07/28/2012

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