Monica Kimani’s father Paul Ngarama has dismissed claims that his daughter was married to South Sudanese politician and former warlord Daniel Awet Akot, but admits that the politician is “very close” to the family.
Close relatives and friends had claimed that Ms Kimani was married to Mr Akot, and that it is through this connection that the family’s fortunes have improved over the past three years.
Ms Kimani was killed by having her throat slit in the bathtub of her Kilimani flat on the night of Wednesday, September 19. Celebrity news anchor Jacque Maribe, her boyfriend Joseph Irungu and a neighbour, Mr Brian Kassaine, have been arrested in connection with the killing. Police are still trying to figure out the motive.
Mr Ngarama, who was a newspaper vendor in Juba in 2013, said Mr Akot, who rose to the rank of Lieutenant-General in the Sudan People’s Liberation Army and is a war veteran, helped him establish numerous churches in Rumbek, Juba and other parts of South Sudan.
Sources had claimed to the Daily Nation that Mr Ngarama moved to South Sudan in 2007 to sell Kenyan newspapers, and that soon he became well known among the Kenyan community in the country.
“He used to also deliver newspapers on a bicycle, was very friendly and lived an ordinary life,” said a man who knew the family but asked not to be named to speak freely.
He said Mr Ngarama later moved to Rumbek and became close to the then Bahr el Ghazal Governor, Mr Awet Akot, who developed trust in him.
In 2013, the source said, just a year after Ms Kimani graduated from the Kenya Polytechnic, Mr Ngarama invited her to Rumbek, where she got a job in the Governor’s office.
“The family business dealt with courier services between Kenya and Sudan but Monica started stocking the premises with beauty products, especially from Kenya and Uganda.
“Gradually, the business grew and then she started her own interior design business in 2017 and won contracts from government offices and other private organisations with the help of Mr Akot’s connections,” the family friend revealed.
Within just two years, Ms Kimani had bought properties in Nairobi, Ruiru and Syokimau. She also bought her mother a car and had already ordered one for her father.
“She used to travel to Kenya at least twice a month because she had properties in Nairobi, and also to check on Mr Akot’s properties in Nairobi’s Kilimani and Kileleshwa areas,” another family member said.