NAIROBI - The head of Venezuela's embassy in Kenya was murdered at her official residence in the capital, police and foreign affairs ministry officials said on Friday.

Police said they believed the charge d'affaires, Olga Fonseca, was strangled to death in the white mansion surrounded by tropical trees and an electric fence in the exclusive Runda neighbourhood.

"We received reports that she was found dead in the house on her bed. What we have seen is that she has been strangled," Anthony Kibuchi, Nairobi area police commander, told reporters outside Fonseca's residence.

She started her job on July 15, the ministry of foreign affairs said.

Venezuelan embassy officials in Kenya were unavailable to comment.

An official at Venezuela's foreign ministry in Caracas said the office did not have any information about the case.