On April 28, Mary Muthoni Mwangi summoned her four daughters for a family meeting to deliberate the release of their brother detained at the Naivasha GK Maximum Prison.
The meeting, also attended by Ms Mwangi’s daughter-in-law, was hosted at her Ngeya residence in Mai Mahiu with her guests travelling from Nakuru, Nairobi and Nyandarua, hopeful as they believed in their collective power to seek justice for their detained kin.
Later that night, the family retired to bed but were awakened around 3am by a distant roar and a shaking ground beneath them.
Mourners carry the caskets bearing the bodies of the six victims of the Maai Mahiu tragedy during the burial ceremony at Longonot Cemetery in Naivasha, Nakuru County on May 16, 2024.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation Media Group
Before anyone could react, a wall of water crashed into the homestead with a deafening force.
Suddenly, the serene family gathering turned into a nightmare.
When the waters finally receded, the once vibrant homestead had lost eight family members.
On Thursday, the family buried their deceased kin at Longonot cemetery, a few kilometres from the spot where the deluge killed 61 people.
During the burial ceremony, one of Ms Mwangi’s daughters, Tabitha Wanja, told the mourners that her sisters came with all their six children, who unfortunately met their demise in the tragedy.
She said her younger sister, Elizabeth Magure, was last to arrive at the homestead on Saturday and joined the rest of the family for the meeting.
"After the meeting, we all decided to sleep at home. At around 3am we were woken up by a bang. We tried saving the young ones but we were overwhelmed," she tearfully recounted.
A member of the Bible Israel Assembly of Kenya Church performs rituals beside the caskets bearing the bodies of six victims of the Maai Mahiu during their burial ceremony in Naivasha on May 16, 2024.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation Media Group
Those who died are Elizabeth Mugure, 17, Alvin Njoroge (8 months), Blessing Muthoni, 8, Mary Muthoni Kanyi, 4, Lewis Ngige, 1, and Jane Muthoni, 32.
Owen Kimani and Anne Muthoni, who also died in the tragedy, were buried last Saturday in Nyandarua County. Lewis and Blessing were siblings.
Jane Muthoni was married to Wanja’s brother Isaac Kanyi and had one child, Mary Muthoni Kanyi, who also died.
According to Wanja, they moved from Ngeya Secondary School and rented a house in Mai Mahiu town after the government paid their rent for the next three months.
"Since the incident, life has not been easy, the loss is too big for the family to bear but we pray to God for strength. We were used to our house but now we are living in rentals. We want to thank all well-wishers who stepped and helped us," Wanja said.
Throughout the ceremony, the resilience and solidarity of the Mai Mahiu community shone through, offering solace amidst the darkness of loss.
Naivasha MP Jane Kihara, who was in attendance, pleaded with the affected families to allow their children to return to school.
She said food donations would be distributed in schools where the affected children learn, encouraging parents to undergo counselling.
Some of the mourners were overwhelmed by emotions during the burial of the six victims of the Maai Mahiu tragedy.
Photo credit: Boniface Mwangi | Nation Media Group
"If you go to the scene, you will know there is God, because you will see debris and fallen trees all over the place and yet there are people who miraculously survived. We will get through this as a community," she said.
Monicah Gathura, a counselling physiologist, said with a team of five others, they would offer help to the affected families by taking them through loss and grief therapy for six months.
She also said they would tackle the programme through support groups where they would meet and discuss their problems as they are facing similar issues.
Mr Ireri Nyaga, a resident of Naivasha, asked the government to fulfil the promises they made to the affected families by resettling them so that they can rebuild their lives and move on.
He called on relevant stakeholders to be keen during the selection of resettlement schemes to ensure that the rightful affected families benefit.
Mr Nyaga called on the government to continue with the search so that families can find their missing members.
"Today is a sad day in Mai Mahiu as we lay to rest the six, it is a big loss to the family. We hope that there will be no scandals that money which was meant for the affected families was pocketed by selfish people. We want to thank the well-wishers and Kenya Red Cross for the unending support," he said.
