Family mourns Kenyan police officer on Haiti mission found dead in a Washington hotel room

A Kenyan police officer has died in a hotel room in the US capital, Washington DC.

His family in Kisii County told Nation that Chief Inspector Walter Nyankieya Nyamato had told them he was part of an advance security team dispatched to Haiti on a reconnaissance mission ahead of the planned deployment of Kenyan peace keeping force.

Mr Nyankieya, who was based at the Jogoo House police headquarters, was enroute to Haiti alongside several other colleagues.

Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department in Washington DC were called in by the hotel management after he failed to respond to knocks on his door on Monday morning. 

They eventually broke the door to Mr Nyamato's room after he failed to respond to calls from his colleagues and the hotel management, where his lifeless body was discovered. 

According to his elder brother, Bernard Ondieki Nyamato, Kenyan authorities have notified their family of his death. 

The brother said a hotel attendant told Washington police that the Mr Nyankieya was booked in the hotel alongside other Kenyan police officers. 

"After serving him, he left the reception for his room. But the following morning his colleagues and the hotel staff tried to wake him up in vain. This prompted the hotel management to call the police who broke the door to his room, where he was found dead," the brother said.

The elder brother mourned the officer, regretting his sudden death.

"My heart is bleeding. The Nyamato family is mourning. My little brother Walter Nyankieya Nyamato is no more. Sad to die at your prime years. We had a lot of plans to accomplish this year. God knows what happened. He has the answers. I believe we will meet again," he wrote on his Facebook page. 

Another brother, Jared Nyamato, said the family was yet to come to terms with the devastating news.

He wondered how his brother just slept and failed to wake up yet he did not have any known medical conditions.

Efforts to get comments from the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Noor Gabow, were not successful.

Plans for Kenya to lead an UN-approved international security mission to Haiti were blocked by the High Court in Nairobi last month, but President William Ruto said the government would forge ahead with the deployment.

The international force is aimed at tackling rampant gang violence in the Caribbean nation, which killed nearly 5,000 people last year, and is due to be initially financed by the United States.

The mission was thrown into doubt after the High court ruled that it would be unconstitutional to deploy police officers abroad unless there was a "reciprocal arrangement" in place with the host government.

President Ruto said Haiti had asked for help months ago, and he expected a request would come shortly that would satisfy court demands.

"So that mission can go ahead as soon as next week, if all the paperwork is done between Kenya and Haiti on the bilateral route that has been suggested by the court," President Ruto said during the Italian-Africa summit in Rome.

Asked if discussions were underway with Haiti to get the necessary request, the president said: "Absolutely. Haiti have actually written formally, not today, several months ago."