Clockwise: Alvine Kamau, Brenda Wanjiku, Jayden Waweru and Lyon Muturi who died in a fire tragedy in Murang'a County on December 19, 2024.
For the past two years, Mercy Njeri, 40, and her family of nine children have retreated to an eight-by-eight iron sheet hut as their sleeping nest in Gakoigo village, Murang'a County.
Now, as they mourn the deaths of four children who were burnt to ashes in their sleep, the humanitarian crisis around them is dire.
The abject poverty that surrounded this family had cemented their love for each other, to a point that when a fire broke out in their tiny home on the night of December 19, 2024, it was the worst tragedy of their lives so far.
By the time the deaths were officially registered, Ms Njeri had lost her son Alvin Kamau, aged four.
Njeri's two daughters – Jacinta Muthoni, 24, and Emmah Wairimu, 21 – had lost their children Lyon Muturi, one-and-a-half years old, and Brendah Wanjiku, 3.
Ms Njeri's sister, Leah Wanjira, 35, had lost her son, Jayden Waweru, aged two.
"In short, I lost my last born, two grandchildren and a nephew in that mysterious fire. As a casual labourer whose daily income averages Sh100 per day, I was the sole provider hence why they were living in my Sh700 monthly rental structure," she told Nation.Africa.
Mercy Njeri whose family lost four children in a Murang'a fire tragedy on December 19, 2024.
She said that "these deaths marks the worst Christmas season for me and my greater family".
Ms Njeri said her troubles started in 2020 when she found a man to marry her.
"I met a lover who was working as a casual labourer in my rural home of Kihumbu-ini village in Gatanga Constituency," she says.
The problem was that she was a mother of five grown-up children.
"But my man did not find it odd, said he loved me together with my children and offered to take all of us to his rural home in Maragua constituency," she narrates.
She arrived at her prospective in-laws in 2020 and immediately her supposed father in law challenged the marriage.
"He said his son who then was 33 years old did not qualify to become an instant father of five children and a grandfather of two...He said he did not recognise me as his daughter in-law," she said.
She endured the hostilities for two years, calling it a marriage, leaving after giving birth to a son and moving to the nearby Gakoigo shopping centre, where she rented the fateful room.
"I moved into the rental room with my six children...my poor sister thought I was better off than her and brought her child to live with me," she said.
By 2023, two of her children had moved out to start their own independent lives, leaving Njeri with her four children, three grandchildren and nephew.
Mrs Njeri had two beds, one for her and her daughters and the other for the five children.
When the fire broke out a few minutes before 9pm, she was outside with her four children.
"Together with my three daughters and a son, we had joined some other neighbours outside our plot to discuss changes that President William Ruto had earlier effected in his government," she said.
Jacinta Muthoni, 24, who lost her son in the Murang'a fire tragedy in Gakoigi Village, Maragua Constituency, on December 19, 2024.
Ms Njeri said many of her neighbours did not have radios, televisions or smartphones to keep up with current affairs.
"That is why every evening we would congregate outside our rental structures to fill each other on current affairs as we whiled away the night," she said.
It was as she sat through the political debate of the appointments that plumes of smoke rose behind her, and moments later her house erupted in a ball of fire.
"I screamed, passed out...I had heard the children screaming. The fire was huge at the door hence there was no way we could get inside to rescue them," she said.
She regained her consciousness at Maragua Level Four Hospital, where the police told her that all the four children had died.
"I accepted the will of God. There was no way I could change the tragedy. In 2018, a counsellor had taught me how to get peace of mind by accepting things that I could not change," she said.
Murang'a Sub County Deputy County Commissioner Mr Gitonga Murungi told Nation.Africa on Sunday that the tragedy was still a big mystery.
"Preliminary investigations reveal that the family used to cook from an open air hearth away from the house. The house is not connected to electricity and was using a solar bulb," he said. "Technically, the house did not have any power or fuel to cause a fire...but a fire broke out".
Mr Murungi urged anyone with information on the cause of the fire to inform investigators. “The whole thing is a mystery," he said.
Mr James Ngugi, a neighbour, said fierce flames from the fire attracted neighbours to the scene “and despite the rain, we could not put it out”.
He said the county fire service did not arrive even after emergency calls were made.
"We lost the four young souls...Neighbours wailed uncontrollably at the sight of the charred remains. We could not [could not identify the bodies as they] were being put into body bags," he said.
Mr Ngugi said he could not speculate on the cause of the fire as the authorities had urged neighbours to be patient, avoid speculation and wait for the official report.
As Ms Njeri now leads her family in making arrangements for the burial of the four children, she is contented, saying "God knows why. I delight in knowing that everything happens for a reason, a reason that to human understanding can be cruel, but very ok in the eyes of the author of life".
Her dilemma now is finding a place to bury all four children.
"The biggest problem is to get our lives back to normal. All our household goods got destroyed in the fire. All our crucial documents have been destroyed. More poverty has piled on our earlier poverty… Burying four bodies is not an easy task," she said.
Homeless and with an estimated budget of Sh300,000 for the funerals and to put her and her daughters' lives back together, she is not relying on well-wishers to help.
Senator Joe Nyutu said he was devastated by the news and said God would provide for the families who lost the children.
"Surely, God shall give the families the fortitude to bear. It is a wakeup call for us in leadership to take a keen interest on how our people live in rental houses and how safe they are," he said.
Mr Nyutu said that "at such a sad moment people might try to apportion blame...but unless it is proved beyond reasonable doubt that the tragedy was deliberately caused, all that is needed are prayers, standing with the families in words and deeds, as well as ensuring we audit our rental habitations to see how safe they are, or how they can be made safer".
Area MP Ms Mary wa Maua visited the scene and broke down in tears.
"Our God knows why, we cannot complain. Yet, the human nature in us must demand a full and comprehensive official report from investigators detailing the cause of the fire," she said.
"As a mother, I know the strong bond a woman has with her unborn child. It is not a small thing for a mother to lose a child. A family losing four children is a national tragedy that should already have attracted even the interest of State House," she said.
On Sunday, Ms Maua said she had already made arrangements for the family to get accommodation and basic necessities to ease their grief.
