Burial mass aborts due to chaos after Ndindi Nyoro clashes with staunch Uhuru supporter

The burial mass of four road accident victims ended in chaos on Friday, September 25 after Kiharu Member of Parliament Ndindi Nyoro clashed with a staunch supporter of President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The incident happened at Nyakahura Village in Kangema, Murang’a County.

Nyoro, a devoted DP William Ruto rooter, had been invited to speak at the event, when a middle-aged man identified as Alex Mbote, said he couldn’t allow the lawmaker to proceed with his address until he apologised for “constantly disrespecting President Uhuru Kenyatta”.

Mbote, a diehard supporter of President Kenyatta and area Governor Mwangi wa Iria, had organised tens of youth to disrupt Nyoro’s speech.

Mourners at the ceremony tried to contain Mbote, but the more they attempted to subdue him, the more the atmosphere got uglier.

The youth, whom Mbote was in the company of, thereafter, channeled chaos to the main dais, where area Senator Irungu Kang’ata, Kangema MP Muturi Kigano and Murang’a Woman Representative Sabina Chege were seated.

All that while, Nyoro refused to hand over the microphone as his supporters, comprising mostly of the youth, threw a cordon around him so as to protect the legislator against any possible attacks.

The MP and St. Mary’s Catholic priest, David Gitau, attempted to pacify the gathering to no avail.

On realising that normalcy was not going to resume anytime soon, the priest ordered that the coffins containing the remains of four family members be loaded onto a waiting hearse and transported for immediate burial. The burial venue was 2 kilometers from where the mass was held.

The disarray played out after the mass had ended, and the clergy members invited leaders present at the function to address the mourners.

The patriarch of the grieving family, Michael Irungu, who had suffered a broken leg, sat quietly as he watched in disbelief how his loved ones’ burial mass was ruined by politicians and locals.

After Father Gitau ordered that the ceremony be brought to an end and the bodies transported for burial, Mzee Irungu was lifted onto a waiting car.

Two weeks ago, Mzee Irungu’s five family members died after a vehicle they were travelling in crashed on the Machakos-Wote Road. The relatives were returning to Murang’a after visiting their in-laws in Makueni County.

The deceased were identified as Duncan Kang’ethe (Mzee Irungu’s son), Kang’ethe’s wife Naomi Wangari, their daughter Tecla Wairimu and Kange’the’s nephew Michael Kamau. Another family member, Grace Muthoni, who is Mzee Irungu’s daughter, also died in the accident.

Muthoni will, however, be buried on Tuesday, September 29 at her matrimonial home in Nyahururu, Nyandarua County.

Nyakahura Village residents condemned the chaos witnessed at the deceased’s burial mass, saying they were “sorry” to Mzee Irungu’s family.

In the lead-up to the chaos, area MP Muturi Kigano had warned subsequent speakers from making political remarks at the event. Kigano, thereafter, invited Nyoro. However, disorder erupted shortly after Nyoro began speaking.

The burial ceremony of the road accident victims was coordinated by MP Kigano and Governor Mwangi wa Iria. President Kenyatta contributed Ksh1 million towards footing burial expenses, whereas his deputy, William Ruto, donated Ksh300,000.