At 3pm last Friday, Fr Patrick Maingi stood at St Mathias Mulumba Catholic Church in Mikindani, Mombasa, praying for 17 pilgrims who were about to leave for Subukia, Nakuru County, for the National Prayer Day.
The pilgrims were excited about the journey. For some, it was going to be their first visit to Subukia Shrine, but others were making an annual pilgrimage they had looked forward to for weeks.
Hours after they set out, the journey ended tragically at Salama along the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway — about 396 kilometres from Mombasa.
“They were so excited and happy. They had really been looking forward to the journey,” the priest said.
Fr Maingi learnt about the crash from Mr John Mrei, a traffic police officer, who is also a member of the church.
Mr Mrei arrived at the accident scene at about 12.10am, and recognised the victims as members of St Mathias Mulumba Catholic Church.
“What made him know that our members were involved in the accident was the headgear that they wore, which bore the name of the church. So, he called to inform me,” Fr Maingi recalled.
The pilgrimage was part of an annual tradition in which Catholics from the four metropolitan archdioceses of Mombasa, Nairobi, Kisumu and Nyeri travel to Subukia on the first Saturday of October for prayers.
This year, however, financial difficulties limited the number of parishioners who registered for the trip. Fr Maingi said only 27 were able to register.
Among the people who secured a seat in one of the vans was a parishioner known as Sarapia, whom the priest said hardly travelled outside Taita-Taveta, where she was born.
“She was born and raised in Taita-Taveta. She even got married in the same county, and had never left Voi. She pleaded for a chance to travel, and we gave her the opportunity,” Fr Maingi said.
12 of the 17 pilgrims killed in a horrific multi-vehicle highway collision(from left): Florence Atieno, Hilcah Orina, Regina Mwai, Martha Nzyoki, Janet Miito, Veronicah Musyimi, Samuel Muigai, Veronica Ngandi, Scholastica Ochieng, Catherine Joseph, Ann Mwanthi and Josephat Mekonge.
Photo credit: Kevin Odit| NMG
The priest particularly remembered another church member, Mama Florence, who had made the headgear worn by the women who were travelling to Subukia.
“She was the one who made the headgear for the women. She said that she wanted them to be smart for the church service,” he said.
Another accident victim, Veronica Ngandi, was preparing for her wedding after recently travelling to Kitui for dowry negotiations. Fr Maingi said that she was planning to make final preparations for her wedding after returning from Subukia.
“She had told me that after the pilgrimage she would finalise her wedding plans,” he said.
The priest also said that the Parish had lost a dedicated member, Mama Scholastica Ochieng. He said that she rarely missed Mass on Sunday. She was the chairlady of one of the church choirs.
Fr Maingi recalled that after morning Mass last Friday, before the pilgrims departed, Scholastica was waiting for a colleague to give her a lift when she told him something that would later leave a lasting impression.
She told him completing the Novena prayers (a traditional Christian devotion made up of private or public prayers repeated for nine consecutive days to ask God for a special favour, grace, or healing) had given her peace.
“She told me that I had done something important by insisting that members of the church complete Novena prayers. She said that she was now a happy person after completing the prayers,” he said.
Three days before the pilgrimage, Fr Maingi said that Scholastica and another parishioner, Ann Mwanthi, had also visited the sisters' office and handed over their tithes, as they regularly did, while preparing for the journey.
Sisi hatutaki kwenda na madeni kwa Mungu. Tunataka kumalizana na madeni, ili kama tunaenda twende tukiwa sawa. Chukua zaka zetu ambazo Father Jumapili akisema sala ya baraka aseme na baraka zetu.
This loosely translates to: “We don't want to go before God with debts (referring to tithes). We want to clear our debts so that we can go with a clear conscience. Take our tithes so that when the priest says the blessing prayer on Sunday, he can include our tithes and bless them as well.)
Faithful attend a special Mass at St Mathias Mulumba Catholic Church, Mombasa County, on October 4, 2026, for the 17 pilgrims who died in the Salama crash.
Photo credit: Kevin Odit | Nation Media Group
“Kumbe tutasema wakiwa mbinguni.” (We never knew we would be saying this about them while they are in heaven.)
Mombasa Archbishop Dominic Kimengich has asked President William Ruto to upgrade the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway to a dual carriageway to help curb road accidents at the Salama blackspot.
Archbishop Kimengich, who was at the Subukia Shrine for the National Prayer Day, said the faithful were shocked when news of the crash reached them.
“We are in mourning. I came here to join the faithful in prayers. When the accident occurred, some of us were already in Subukia. The news is shattering. It is very sad. But we turned to God in prayers,” he said.
Separately, a sombre mood engulfed Sultan Hamud Sub-County Referral Hospital in Makueni County yesterday as families identified the 17 people killed in the accident.
Medics and Kenya Red Cross officials struggled to console the bereaved, many of whom had travelled overnight from Mombasa.
“We lost three men and 14 women in the accident. All of them have been identified by their relatives,” Sultan Hamud Sub-County Referral Hospital Medical Superintendent Stephen Mwangangi said.
Mr Martin Obwaka, the moderator of the Catholic Men's Association at the Archdiocese of Mombasa, said postmortems had been conducted on 15 bodies.
Makueni County Health Executive Joyce Mutua said that the driver of one of the trucks that was involved in the accident, who had been admitted to hospital, was out of danger.
Makueni Governor Mutula Kilonzo Junior said: “While we mourn, this tragedy must also serve as a wake-up call on road safety, particularly at the identified blackspots along the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway, where lives continue to be lost.”
“The loss of 17 lives is a stark reminder that a lot needs to be done to protect motorists, passengers, pedestrians and all other road users.”
The governor urged the national government to prioritise the dualling of the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway and called on the Kenya National Highways Authority to take decisive measures to improve safety at Salama.
He cited interventions at Salgaa and Nithi Bridge, saying similar action was needed at Salama before more lives were lost.
