Emotions run high at Monica Kimani’s burrial ,Family calls for justice

As the family of the late Monica Nyawira Kimani bid their final farewell to the 28-year-old who was killed in cold blood last Wednesday, her father told mourners that he had only one wish.

“Before I join my maker I would like to know who killed my daughter and why,” Mr Paul Kimani, who spoke for slightly over a minute during Friday’s sombre funeral in Gilgil, Nakuru County, said.

Monica’s mother was so overcome with grief that she could not address the family and friends who had gathered at her home to bury her daughter, whose body was found in her flat in Nairobi by her brother.

Every so often, she wiped the tears that rolled freely down her cheeks with a white handkerchief as speakers poured praised on her slain daughter.

One suspect, Mr Joseph Kuria Irungu alias Joe Jowi, has been arrested in connection with the killing and is in custody as police continue with investigations.

Monica had just arrived in the country from South Sudan when her body was found in her Nairobi apartment with the throat slit.

Mourners, including villagers, started trooping to the sleepy Kairi village in Gilgil early in the morning, eager to attend the highly-publicised funeral that stirred the lull in the laid-back area.

Motorists drove for six kilometres from Gilgil town to the burial site. The family’s modest home was the first stop.

And when the ceremony started, the mourners followed the proceedings in silence. “Many questions are being asked about her death … but what we are asking for is justice,” Mr Kenneth Mbaria, a church leader who addressed the gathering, said.

He called on investigating agencies to expedite the case, saying the family and the country at large want to know those involved in committing the heinous crime.