Allan Mwenda who passed away during a road accident on Mbagathi Road, photo sourced on July 15, 2026.
Two weeks after a fiery crash on Nairobi's Mbagathi Way claimed the lives of three close friends, grief remained as raw as ever on Tuesday when family, friends and colleagues gathered in Meru to bid farewell to Allan Mwenda.
A portrait of the late Allan Mwenda, one of the three friends who died in a tragic road accident on Mbagathi Way, Nairobi. He was laid to rest at Igoji in Meru on July 21, 2026.
The monitoring and evaluation officer at the National Oil Corporation was laid to rest at his family's home in Igoji after a sombre funeral service at Gikurune PCEA Church, where those who knew him painted the picture of a man whose greatest gift was bringing people together.
Yet even as prayers were said and tributes flowed, one painful question lingered of what caused the crash that cut short the lives of three young men.
Mwenda died in the early hours of Saturday, July 12, alongside his friends Erick Ochieng and Evans Kyalo after their vehicle veered off Mbagathi Way near Riara University, hit a bridge and burst into flames. Despite desperate attempts by witnesses to rescue them, the intensity of the fire made it impossible.
Mbagathi road crash victims (from left): Evans Kyalo Muteti Allan Mwenda and Erick Ochieng.
For his family, the tragedy remains almost impossible to comprehend.
His mother, Ann Karimi, recalled their last conversation, just a day before the accident, saying it had become a treasured memory.
“We spoke just a day before you left us. I will treasure that final, beautiful conversation for the rest of my days. Your surname was Mwenda, which means 'to love.' You did not just bear that name, my son; you lived up to it every single day,” she said.
His widow, Juliet Mwenda, spoke of the enormous void left behind, saying she now draws strength from the couple's three sons.
“The emptiness I feel in my heart is beyond words, but I find comfort in knowing that you left me with our three boys, each carrying a part of you with them,” she said.
His father, Kenneth Kinyua, remembered him as a man whose Christian faith shaped the way he lived.
“He believed that faith should be lived with open hands and willing feet,” he said.
Mwenda’s sister, Maureen Kinya, remembered a brother who dreamed without limits.
“He wanted to be president one day. To him, nothing was too big or impossible. Whenever you talked to him, you always left with a bigger and more positive outlook on life,” she said.
The funeral drew relatives, friends, colleagues and leaders, among them former Meru Governor Kiraitu Murungi, Imenti South MP Shadrack Mwiti and Meru Deputy Governor Linda Kiome.
Pallbearers carry the casket bearing the body of Allan Mwenda, one of the three friends who died in a tragic road accident on Mbagathi Way, Nairobi. He was laid to rest at Igoji in Meru on July 21, 2026.
The three friends had spent what was supposed to be an ordinary Friday evening discussing a business venture they hoped to pursue together.
Police officers supervise the removal of the wreckage of the car involved in the fatal road crash along Mbagathi Way from Nairobi Funeral Home in Nairobi on July 11, 2026. Three occupants were burnt beyond recognition after the vehicle caught fire following the crash.
They had met at a restaurant in Nairobi West with a fourth friend, Jackson Ingolo. But when they left, their paths diverged.
Mr Ingolo headed home to Imara Daima while the others drove towards Hurlingham.
“I did not join them because they were heading towards Hurlingham while I live in Imara Daima. I gave Mwenda my laptop for safe keeping and we were to meet on Monday,” he told the Daily Nation shortly after the tragedy.
The wreckage of the car involved in the fatal accident along Mbagathi Way is moved from Nairobi Funeral Home in Nairobi on July 11, 2026.
Instead, Mr Ingolo woke to several missed calls and heartbreaking social media images of a charred vehicle he instantly recognised as his friend's.
As Mwenda was finally laid to rest on Tuesday, his family said they are still waiting for answers about what led to the crash that changed their lives forever.
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