Kitavi Mutua

Kitavi Mutua died on the night of Friday 30 October 2026 at Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital in Nairobi. His family spokesperson, Faith Kithele, told the Daily Nation that he had been bitten by a red spitting cobra at his home in Kitui South. He was first admitted to Kitui County Referral Hospital, where he was also diagnosed with diabetes, and was transferred to the Nairobi hospital after he failed to respond well to treatment.

His kidneys, liver and lungs failed and he spent about two weeks in the intensive care unit. Medics tried three times to resuscitate him after he suffered a cardiac arrest. Kithele said medics linked his death to the snake bite, complicated by the underlying condition. Reports differ on how long he stayed at home before seeking hospital care, and a relative has questioned the delay; those claims have not been independently verified.

No funeral arrangements had been announced when the news was reported on 31 October and 1 November 2026.

Kitavi Mutua came from Kitui County in Kenya's Ukambani region, and leaders who mourned him called him a son of Kitui and of Ukambani. Details of his birth date, childhood and education have not been made public in the reports of his death. His family home was in Kitui South, where he was living at the time of his death.

Mutua was a long-serving correspondent for the Nation Media Group, based in Kitui. His byline appeared in the Daily Nation and on Nation Africa, and he covered political, social and economic developments in Kitui County and the wider Ukambani region.

He wrote extensively on politics, devolution, health, agriculture, climate action and the environment, and he reported on the problem of snakebites in Kitui County. Former Makueni Governor Kivutha Kibwana called him a prolific writer whose contributions graced the Daily Nation and several other platforms, and Kalonzo Musyoka said he spoke truth to power and covered social justice issues across the country.

He was also remembered as a mentor to young reporters and to people entering public life. Kitui Woman Representative Irene Kasalu said he introduced her to the intricacies of communication when she was starting out in politics, and Kitui County Assembly Speaker Kelvin Kinengo Katisya said Mutua had helped shape his media presence.

About two years before his death he left Nation Media Group to go into private business. He had been working with Kalonzo Musyoka on the politician's second autobiography, which was unfinished when he died.

Mutua kept close friendships across the media and political worlds of Kitui. The former media regulator Ezekiel Mutua, a former journalism colleague, said Kitavi had visited him only days before the snake bite in the company of Mwingi West MP Charles Ngusya Nguna. Kitui Senator Enoch Wambua described him as a professional colleague and a friend whose wisdom he would miss.

Mutua is remembered as one of the main voices who carried news from Kitui and Ukambani to a national audience for many years, and as a generous mentor. "A pen has fallen silent, but the stories you told and the legacy you leave behind will live on," said Standard Media Group reporter Phillip Muasya. Kalonzo Musyoka used his tribute to urge county governments to make sure antivenom and proper care are available for snakebite victims.