Mariam Kighenda Archives

Family of Mariam Kighenda sues Kenya Ferry Services

by Mustafa Juma October 18, 2019

The family of Likoni Ferry tragedy victims Mariam Kighenda and her 4-year-old daughter Amanda Mutheu has moved to court to sue Kenya Ferry Services(KFS) over negligence.

The family of Mariam Kighenda moves to Court to sue the Kenya Ferry Services for negligence over her death and that of her daughter Amanda.
— Derrick Ohato (@DerrickOhato) October 18, 2019

This had already been revealed by the family’s spokesperson, Luka Mbati, following the release of post-mortem results on Wednesday.

The family expressed satisfaction with the results, saying burial arrangements would kick off immediately.

Chief Government pathologist Johansen Oduor conducted the autopsy on Wednesday and found that Kighenda and her daughter died out of suffocation.

The post-mortem examination took one-and-half hours, said Dr Oduor. It was conducted at Jocham Hospital mortuary in Mombasa.

Burial arrangements are currently ongoing in Makueni county where Kighenda’s husband, John Wambua, hails from.

The remains are being transported to Makueni today (Friday) and later be buried tomorrow (tomorrow).

Nairobi governor Mike Sonko has offered to transport the bodies from Mombasa to Makueni through his Sonko Rescue Team.

Meanwhile, President Uhuru Kenyatta has sacked all members of the Kenya Ferry Services board following the deaths of Mariam and her daughter Amanda at the Likoni Channel.

October 18, 2019 0 comment

Sonko to transport bodies of Likoni tragedy victims to Makueni

by Mustafa Juma October 18, 2019

written by Mustafa Juma

Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko says he will — through his Sonko Rescue Team outfit — transport the bodies of Likoni tragedy victims, Mariam Kighenda and her daughter Amanda Mutheu, from Mombasa to Makueni on Friday.

A representative of Kighenda’s family, Luka Mbaati, on Wednesday told media that the mother-and-daughter’s remains will be transported from Jocham mortuary in Mombasa on Friday night (October 18) ahead of the burial, which will take place at Ngaamba area in Kilome Constituency, Makueni County the following day, Saturday, October 19.

And now, Sonko says he has offered to transport the bodies at no cost to the family.

“We have agreed with those in charge of the burial arrangements to transport the bodies and play any other possible role in the burial arrangements,” Sonko said on Thursday.

The bodies of Kighenda and Mutheu were removed from the sea last Friday, October 11, after staying immersed in the Indian Ocean for 13 days.

Kighenda and Mutheu died after their vehicle, a Toyota Isis, slid off MV Harambee on the Likoni Ferry channel on September 29 and plunged 58 meters into the sea.

Mariam’s family said Wednesday that after burying their loved ones, they will sue the Kenya Ferry Services Limited for negligence.

“We are, currently, continuing with burial plans. Once we have laid our loved ones to rest, we will institute legal action against the Kenya Ferry Services Limited,” Mbaati said.

Thirty five-year-old Mariam Kighenda and her 4-year-old daughter, Amanda Mutheu, suffocated to death, autopsy results released Wednesday, October 16, showed.

According to State’s chief pathologist, Dr. Johansen Oduor, the two died of asphyxia – a condition arising when the body is deprived of oxygen.

Asphyxia, simply known as suffocation, causes unconsciousness or death, Oduor said.

“I can confirm that Kighenda and Mutheu died as a result of lack of oxygen in their bodies. We’ll now hand over the report to police so that they can continue with their investigations,” the pathologist said Wednesday after overseeing the 1-hour and 30 minutes’ postmortem exercise at Jocham Hospital in Mombasa.

Oduor said the autopsy outcome showed that the mother-and-daughter “died around the same time.”

“None of them suffered any physical injury,” said Oduor.

The pathologist, however, said it was impossible for them to ascertain the time Kighenda and Mutheu remained alive under water before finally succumbing.

“We couldn’t establish that because the bodies had stayed immersed in the ocean for long,” said Oduor.

“The longer one remains immersed in water, the more difficult it is to get accurate results on how long one stayed alive before succumbing to asphyxia. Decomposition of the bodies had begun. However, it couldn’t be possible to tell when it exactly started because when one dies in a water body, the [decomposition] process is delayed,” said Oduor.

Likoni lead detective, Charles Onyango, told K24 Digital that they have commenced investigations into the death of the two.

“We are yet to question Kenya Ferry Services managing director, Bakari Gowa, in regard to the mother-and-daughter’s deaths. However, we have lined him up for interrogation,” said Onyango.

Following the Likoni tragedy that claimed the two lives, President Uhuru Kenyatta sacked the Kenya Ferry Services Limited chairperson Dan Mwazo.

In a Wednesday, October 16, Gazette Notice Number 9833, the Head of State said Mwazo was dismissed with immediate effect.

Also fired, were other non-executive board members of the Kenya Ferry Services Limited. They include: Naima Amir, Philip Ndolo, Rosina Mruttu and Daula Omar.

October 18, 2019 0 comment

Why Mariam Kighenda’s Husband Has Rejected Suggestions to Use Witchcraft in Retrieving Bodies

by Mustafa Juma October 9, 2019

written by Mustafa Juma

Suggestions have repeatedly been made for Mariam Kighenda’s husband, John Wambua, to use witchcraft to appease ancestors as an alternative way to help in retrieval of his wife and daughter’s bodies.

But Wambua has rejected the suggestions, saying his wife was a staunch Christian and and that he will stick to their faith.

“I am a staunch Christian and my wife was also a staunch Christian, so we cannot go that way,” said Wambua.

Hopes of recovering bodies of Kighenda and her daughter, Amanda Mutheu, who drowned at the Likoni Ferry channel a week ago continued to dim even as multi-agency teams led by Kenya Navy deployed more sophisticated underwater equipment to help in the search.

Signs of despair were palpable on family members as well as government officials involved in the operation despite divers from South Africa joining the retrieval mission.

The media was kept at bay from the scene after the military condoned off the search area.

However, family spokesman Luka Mbati said they have high hopes the bodies will be found following deployment of more experts and advanced equipment.

“We are still hopeful that bodies will be found and they will be given to us for burial. This is all we pray for so as to have closure,” said Mbati.

South African divers hired by the family spent the day deploying their in the search zone.

The family has been holding prayers at the Mbaraki Wharf.

This comes even as unconfirmed reports indicated on Tuesday that government was contemplating calling off the exercise officially by Wednesday.

Those familiar with such underwater operations said chances of recovering the bodies intact by now could be almost zero.

“Human body can only stay intact in the ocean for three days, beyond that it swells and decomposes,” said Abubakar Ali, a diver.

As the search entered day nine on Tuesday, the operation still appeared slow.

Around six motorboats patrolled the waters, occasionally immersing robotic cameras in almost the same way they had done since the start of the search operation on Monday last week.

For the better part of Tuesday, the search operation commander Lawrence Gituma and Kenya Ferry Service Chaiman Dan Mwazo, who since Monday were left to handle official communication, said they were not ready to address the media.

And opposition leader Raila Odinga’s order to have dredging works nearby stopped has been ignored.

October 9, 2019 0 comment