To Kenyan and Haitian authorities, he is a martyr who gave everything to free Port au Prince from the ruthless grasp of nearly 300 gangs.
His sacrifice has, however, left Maria Watima a widow and single mother of one. Their daughter, Valentine, scored a B+ in last year’s KCSE. The family is now worried about her future.
Jecinta Wanjiku, a teacher by profession, is now a bereaved mother, ruing the disaster of outliving her child. She, too, is a single mother.
Ms Wanjiku is left with one son, Philip Kamau Kuria, who is also grieving the loss of his only sibling.
Benedict Kuria Kabiru, a police corporal who has brushed shoulders with some of the most hardened criminals, should have landed in Kenya from Haiti in just under four months.
Ms Wanjiku said that Mr Kabiru once described the mission as a golden opportunity to showcase the special skills he learned when training as an officer in Embakasi, at the Administration Police Training College.
“My son was loyal and very willing to take up the task. When I once asked him not to head there as it was dangerous he answered saying that one can lose his life anywhere be it in Kenya or abroad,” she said.
Hours before Port au Prince confirmed that Mr Kabiru had fallen to the bullets of notorious Haitian gangsters, his mother Ms Wanjiku demanded that the Kenyan government return her son home in the same good health he left.
The Haitian statement has killed the hope that Mr Kabiru’s family had, of him still being alive.
Benedict Kabiru Kuria's mother, Jacinta Wanjiku (left), and his wife, Miriam Kabiru, display his picture during the interview at their home in Thamande, Kikuyu on March 27, 2025.
Photo credit: Lucy Wanjiru | Nation Media Group
Last Saturday, Mr Kabiru informed Ms Wanjiku that he was part of a team that would leave their camp, and go for a mission deep inside Haiti.
On Monday, he was captured by gang members, who executed an ambush after a Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicle he was in developed a mechanical problem.
He was among colleagues tasked with rescuing a group of Haitian counterparts, whose vehicle got stuck in a ditch suspected to have been dug by gang members.
If a special team is successful in retrieving Mr Kabiru’s body, which the gangs are holding as a trophy, then he will return home in a box.
Mr Kabiru joined the Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission on July 15, 2024, alongside 195 of his colleagues.
The MSS is a mix of officers from Kenya, Jamaica, Belize, Bahamas, Guatemala, El Salvador, and Haitian security authorities.
The mission is attempting to take Haiti back from the tight grip of nearly 300 ruthless gangs, which currently control all spheres of life in the Caribbean island nation.
Mr Kabiru was a shoe-in for the multi-agency team in Port au Prince, owing to his nine-year experience fighting some of the most hardened criminals in East Africa.
He was in 2016 seconded to the Border Patrol Unit, which protects Kenya’s boundaries from external threats trying to make their way into the country.
Terrorists, humans, weapons, and drug traffickers and smugglers are just some of the threats to national security that Mr Kabiru brushed shoulders with in his stint with the Border Patrol Unit.
That unit sent him to Mandera and Moyale, where he spent nine years.
At the Border Patrol Unit, he also sharpened his combat and investigative skills, at one point under the tutelage of Deputy Inspector-General Gilbert Masengeli.
In Thamanda, Sigona Ward in Kikuyu Constituency, Ms Wanjiku has been disturbed for days.
Mr Kabiru was the breadwinner in his family, and often provided support for his mother, who is a teacher by profession.
Ms Wanjiku spent Tuesday evening camping at the Kikuyu police station, where she interacted with the Sub-County commander hoping to get information about what had transpired.
“He (sub-county commander) only told us that we shall be given more information with time. All he said was that my son was missing and we should be patient until he gets an update,” she said.
She was bitter with some social media users, especially on Facebook, who kept posting unverified news of her son.
Ms Wanjiku said that someone had sent her a Facebook link, and when she clicked, it alluded to her son’s death. At this time, Mr Kabiru was only listed as missing, and there was no official communication on his death.
“When I informed the police about what I was seeing on social media they told me to report so as action is taken against those posting about my son. But that is not enough because I am still in the dark and do not know what is happening,” Ms Wanjiku said.
Ms Wanjiku said that her son had great plans upon his return to Kenya. He planned to build his mother a house.
“I live in a rental house and I had made a decision to quit teaching and start a business but my son asked me to be patient and that once he comes back from Haiti he would buy land and build me a home,” she said.
Mr Kabiru always ensured that everyone was doing well despite him being miles away, a trait that his mother loved.
The slain police officer created a family WhatsApp group, where he was the most active, to ensure he and his kin remained united and updated on each other’s welfare.
Every member of his family would get a message with good wishes on their birthday, some of which she showed our team.
“I was amazed that he has kept a record of such important days, he even told us that he would ensure that we celebrate the birthdays together as he emphasized a family that is united,” she said.
“We have been discussing with my son the best course that my granddaughter should take. We all settled on nursing which she is willing to pursue but again with the father missing and no one is ready to give us any information about what will happen to Valentine?” she added.
Ms Wanjiku added that Valentine is the eldest of her grandchildren, who has set a good example for others. She had all along hoped that Mr Kabiru would send Valentine to university.
Mr Kabiru’s brother, Kamau, said that he has lost a mentor who occasionally supported him and his family financially. Whenever Mr Kamau’s pockets were empty, Mr Kabiru paid school fees for his brother’s children.
“He was always there for us, it was only last week that he sent me money yet I had not asked for it,” said Kamau, who added that he would ensure that the dream of building their mother a home comes true.
Haiti's President, Fritz Alphonse Jean, termed Kabiru a valiant police officer who made the ultimate sacrifice for a better future for the Caribbean country.
