Wife’s last conversation with me, husband of Likoni ferry victim speaks out

By Reuben Mwambingu and Harrison Kivisu

John Wambua, the husband of a 35-year-old woman who drowned in the Indian Ocean on Sunday, says his wife had -- 30 minutes to the heartbreaking incident -- informed her that she and their 4-year-old daughter were about to board a ferry at the Likoni channel.

Wambua says Mariam Kigenda had -- during the weekend -- visited their Kwale farm with their daughter, Amanda Mutheu, and were on their way back to their Mombasa home, when they drowned after the vehicle they were travelling in, a Toyota Isis, reversed while on board of MV Harambee, and plummeted into the sea.

“Shortly after 6pm, she [Mariam] called to tell me that she was on her way back and she was, in fact, about to cross. But at around 6.40pm, I scanned my Twitter and saw breaking news about a Likoni ferry mishap in which a vehicle had plunged into the ocean,” a distressed Wambua told People Daily on Monday, September 30.

“I was shocked and called my wife but I couldn’t reach her,” added a teary Wambua.

Minutes later, a WhatsApp message from Kenya Ferry Services (KFS) confirmed his worst fears: the vehicle’s registration plate -- KCB 289C -- belonged to that of his wife.

Ferry passengers, who witnessed the incident, say Mariam’s car, which was at the rear end side of the island bound MV Harambee, reversed and plunged into the ocean while the vessel was midstream.

The witnesses said Mariam and her daughter, Amanda, could be seen waving and screaming for help through the vehicle’s windows as the car floated for at least 20 minutes before it sank.

Likoni OCPD, Benjamin Rotich, says preliminary investigations indicate the vehicle’s braking sytem failed, resulting in it reversing and plummeting into the sea.

Mariam’s family and friends believe the 20 minutes, in which the Toyota Isis remained afloat, was enough to rescue the victims had the Kenya Ferry Services “been serious about passenger safety”.

Mariam’s longtime friend, Sheila Karembo, told People Daily: “It pains to even imagine that lives were lost in these very waters where the Kenya Navy are making minute by minute patrols in preparation for Mashujaa Day which is almost a month away.”

Coast regional coordinator, John Elungata, on Monday put the blame squarely on Kenya Ferry managing director Bakari Gowa.

Gowa, however, said there was nothing much his administration could do, given the old ferries are yet to be replaced, and that the State is yet to okay the hiring of divers, whose key duty will be to help during incidents similar to Mariam’s.

Mariam’s vehicle, the government said, has been spotted 60 meters in the sea, but there are no equipment to retrieve it.

The State says it has sourced the high-tech machine from South Africa.