Freedom fighter Dedan Kimathi’s family now wants the Kenya kwanza administration to find his remains so that if his wife Mukami Kimathi passes on she can be buried beside him.
Speaking during Kimathi’s 66th commemoration of his execution, Kimathi’s daughter Evelyn Wanjugu Kimathi decried that it was unfortunate that their kin’s remains were still lying at an unidentified location in Kamiti prison where he was hanged.
“For us, as a family, we are worried that if our ageing mother passes on, we will have nowhere to bury her. Where would we bury her? Is it Kamiti where her husband’s remains are still lying? We urge this government to assist us in finding his remains so that when she dies, we will bury her beside him,” she stated.
While expressing optimism, Evelyn affirmed that she was hopeful that the President William Ruto-led administration will be able to trace the remains of their loved one as requested.
Kimathi was captured by colonial forces in 1955 at Karunaini village in Nyeri during the struggle for independence. He was hanged at Kamiti where he was buried in an unmarked grave.
Previous attempts and promises by the previous regimes to have his remains have been rendered futile.
“The first government came, assured us but nothing came out of it, the second and the third followed suit, we have high hopes that this government will assist us in finding our father’s remains so that we give him a decent send-off,” Evelyn added.
Nyeri senator Wahome Wamatinga and his Nyandarua counterpart John Methu supported Wanjugu’s sentiments saying that there is a need for renewed efforts to find the remains for a decent burial.
“It would only be honourable to give this hero who fought for us a decent send-off because he deserves it as they are the reason we have freedom,” Wamatinga stated.
On his part, Methu noted that if every other leader can be given a state burial then Kimathi hero should be accorded a decent send-off.
“If I happen to die today I will be given a state burial yet the person behind our freedom is lying somewhere in Kamiti. We are going to ensure that he gets a decent burial,” Methu said.
During the colourful but emotional event, freedom fighters present and their siblings urged the government to allocate them land, saying that previous regimes have only succeeded in cheating them.
