Engineer George Mwangi, the husband to politician Gladys Chania was finally laid to rest at his matrimonial Mang’u rural home in Gatundu North in a muddled event that was filled with drama.
While such a ceremony would customarily take the entire day in an African setting, Mwangi was hurriedly rushed to the grave with his interment event taking less than two hours.
Mourners who had gone to pick up the body at the Kenyatta University Funeral Home arrived at Mang’u around 12.00 pm but by 1:50 pm, the event had been concluded.
Confusion over burial mass
In a weird turn of events, Mwangi’s burial was unusually presided over by clerics from Hope Fellowship Centre despite him being a staunch believer and follower of the Catholic church.
As his burial ceremony was ongoing at his home where he is believed to have been murdered before his badly mutilated body was dumped at Kieni forest, the Catholic Women Association (CWA) members at St Joseph the Worker Catholic Church were glued to a different mass ceremony at the church 200 meters from his home
Mwangi has been fellowshipping at St Joseph the Worker Catholic Church each time he was back home.
According to some stunned CWA members who sought anonymity, the burial event had been announced in church last Sunday but was slated to happen tomorrow (Friday).
“We are equally shocked and confused that the event dates were changed. We had been told that Mwangi would be buried on Friday. The church management had put in place all measures to ensure it happens smoothly. We have just come from a CWA mass only to witness the burial happening today,” one of the CWA members told K24 digital.
Not even the Salvation Army church priests, where Chania fellowships were involved in the burial activity that was filled with low-spirited faces.
Close family members from Chania’s side who also did not want to be mentioned however cleared that the burial dates were changed to allow Mwangi’s eldest daughter to participate in the internment process before she flies back to the USA where she has been residing.
Journalists attending the event were barred beyond the gate compelling them to devise ways of capturing moments inside the small compound where only three 50-capacity white tents had been pitched.
Interestingly, even family members and friends who did not manage to get seats at the burial were forced to follow proceedings while standing.
Chania skips ceremony
Chania, the prime suspect in the murder of Mwangi was not present at the burial despite having been granted a Ksh1million bond to warrant her release.
A high-profile police officer however revealed that Chania’s absence was a result of the delayed processing of her bond.
However, Chania, in a tribute read by a lady only identified as Jude described her husband as caring and concerned.
“I thank God for the way your care and concern surrounded our family day in and day out. We had our high and low moments but each day we held our love for each other by reminding ourselves the far we have come,” Chania eulogized Mwangi.
