'Losing you is like losing music of my youth': Grief as family mourns MP Ng’eno and five others

Before the mourners lay six coffins bearing the bodies of a lawmaker, two teachers, a journalist, a pilot and a security officer whose lives were cut short in a single tragic moment.

Johana was a caring and loving man, his wife Nayianoi Ntutu said. They were “young, learning life together and somehow you made it feel less frightening and more beautiful,” she mourned.

“Losing you feels like losing the music of my youth… but death cannot take what we built.” 

For Narok Governor Patrick Ntutu, the tragedy had struck him at a deeply personal level. He was mourning friends who he serves as their governor. But he was also mourning a son-in-law. Mr Ng’eno was married to his daughter, Nayianoi. 

“This is the saddest day of my life,” Governor Ntutu said. “I have lost a son-in-law. I have also lost my protocol officer, Rono.”

The morning before he perished in the afternoon, Governor Ntutu said, Mr Ng’eno had called to notify him that he was travelling to Nandi. And in the afternoon, he was to issue bursaries.

“Little did I know that was the last day I was going to talk to my friend and a son-in-law,” Mr Ntutu said. 

The Deputy President Kithure Kindiki who assured the bereaved families that the government would stand with them described Mr Ng’eno as an underestimated leader.

“Many people may have underestimated the intelligence, wit and leadership of Ng’eno,” Prof Kindiki said. 

“The country has lost a lawmaker. A seasoned pilot who served in the military,” he added, pledging state support to the affected families.

In the brief moments life gave way to death, Mr Ng’eno was with Amos Kipngetich Rotich, a-23-year-old second born in a humble family raised by a single mother. He was yet to marry, his family said.

Read: Johana Ng’eno’s 2007 denied victory that birthed Emurua Dikirr

He was Wednesday remembered as the light of the family and the hero of his siblings, many of whom are still young and looked up to him for guidance and support.

In the final moments before the helicopter crash claimed their lives, Amos is said to have spoken words that now haunt those who heard them.

“He said that if mheshimiwa has not survived, then there is no point in living,” a speaker recounted during the requiem service. “He died seconds later.”

They were together with an alumnus of Maseno University and the fifth-born of Mrs and Mr Philip Koskei, Nicholas Kiplangat Koskei. The 25-year-old was mourned as an ambitious hardworking young man.

A class representative par excellence in his college days, he was an affable comrade. Through his camera, Nicholas saw the beauty in the everyday and the significance in the historic. 

“He had the rare gift of freezing time, leaving us with images that now serve as his enduring legacy,” the obituary reads. 

An astute airman, George Were, who piloted the ill-fated helicopter, was remembered as deeply passionate and one who served “with professionalism and discipline, flying with skill and distinction.” 

MP Julius Melly, the chair of the funeral committee mourned the loss of the six in what he described as a devastating tragedy.  He remembered Ng’eno as a determined leader and a go-getter and a great person. 

“He was a fighter. Even if he remained alone. He was never afraid of ruffling feathers when it got to that.”

In death, the families of those who perished will remain united, he added.

Read: How Johana Ng’eno’s secret tapes sealed Rigathi Gachagua’s fate

“We’re not going to separate these families in death. They died together,” Meli said, explaining that a committee had agreed to support all the bereaved families together.

“The government will bear the cost of all these.”

For colleagues who worked closely with the MP, the loss was deeply personal. MP Rindikiri Mugambi, the vice chair of the committee on urban planning and public works where Ngeno served as the chair, described him as a leader who carried both authority and humility.

“The pain of death cuts deep,” Mr Mugambi said. “It was very humbling to serve under Johana.”

His constituents, he said, had lost a strong voice and defender.

At the national level, leaders described the tragedy as a blow to Parliament and the country.

The Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen said the MP was a deeply spiritual man while the National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula said the nation was mourning “departed heros”.

“Ngeno was a very good person with a clean heart. Captain Were was an astute airman,” Speaker Wetangula said.

National Assembly Majority Leader Kimani Ichung’wah said Parliament had lost a dedicated lawmaker.

“The parliament is only poorer without Ngeno. We have lost a very dedicated person and a committed leader in our country.”

Siaya Senator Oburu Oginga, whom many fondly refer to as the “youth leader” despite being an octogenarian, said he was mourning a promising “young” legislator.

“I am saying bye to a young man,” he said. “He was very honest. He was a very passionate MP.”

Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot said the tragedy had robbed the country of capable leaders and friends.

“They were gallant men,” he said, adding he had known Ngeno for years while remembering Carlos, another victim, as a trusted political organiser.

The bodies will be airlifted to their respective homes ahead of the burials.

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