Tension was high at Irewa village, Murang’a as two kidnap suspects killed by police were laid to rest on Friday in a bizarre burial ceremony that was snubbed by the residents and also the clergy.
Majority of the residents had kept off the ceremony and only attended when police arrived. Wambui Muturi Karanja and her 28-year-old grandson Samuel Kimani were buried in Irewa village barely 100 metres apart. Their third accomplice, John Mwangi, will be buried today in Njumbi area in Mathioya Sub-county.
There were no written eulogies and the ceremonies lacked coordination, as locals failed to participate in the preparations for fear of being labelled sympathisers of criminals.
The burials took less than an hour, and only close relatives participated. After Kiamani’s body was interred, the villagers flocked to Wambui’s compound when a contingent of officers from Kahuro police station showed up. There was no preaching as clerics also kept away. Karanja Muiru, Kimani’s uncle, said the family has earned a bad name following the kidnapping, saying the man had ignored calls to stop the crime.
“Death of Kimani follows his ignorance from advice by elders severally to stop associating himself with gangs,” he said.
Prophet John Njaramba, the man who finally presided over the burial ceremony, said the youth should mend their ways and avoid being part of the criminal gangs that have dominated Nairobi Kayole estate.
“I have buried many of the youth over their involvement with criminal gangs. I was a former gangster but after I realised threats involved I changed my ways,” said Njaramba.
The 81-year-old grandmother has left behind two daughters as her five sons are all deceased with two having been gunned by police over their involvement in crime. Two others died after they fell sick and another was lynched by a mob in Nairobi over his involvement with activities of the outlawed Mungiki sect.
The three suspected kidnappers were gunned down by police officers in Kahuro, Murang’a county on July 21, 2018. The 80-year-old woman had kidnapped a woman in her 30s for six days at Gathuku village.
Margaret Waithera, who spoke to journalists after she was rescued by police officers, said she was kidnapped on her way home in the neighbouring Kiria village. The gang was in a vehicle that had a government number plate. Waithera said she was driving at 8pm along a road full of potholes and had slowed down when she saw the vehicle signalling her from behind. The vehicle overtook her and barricaded the road.
Waithera said after sensing danger, she locked herself inside her car, but the kidnappers were able to unlock her doors remotely.
“They dragged me out of my car and into their vehicle, slapped me and asked me to give them all the money I had and ATMs,” Waithera said. They then gave her a drink that made her lose consciousness before taking her to a house where they held her for six days.
Waithera said the old woman made her a dish of rice and green grams everyday and had threatened to chop off her head if she was uncooperative. The suspects, she said, had a photo of her father and told her their initial intention was to kidnap him.
They then asked for the contacts of two of her brothers and demanded a ransom of Sh5 million, failing which they would harm her. Waithera was overjoyed when her relatives came to get her shortly after she was rescued by police officers.
Criminal investigations officer Julius Rutere said the police recovered an AK-47 rifle and toy pistol. The police had tracked the phone numbers the kidnappers were using to the granny’s home, gunning her and two other suspects down. Sources in the police indicate the three defied an order to open the door, prompting an exchange of fire.