Tirus Maina Gikonyo, the 39-year-old man who drowned in a dam in Juja, Kiambu County alongside a 22-year-old woman was on Friday at his ancestral home at Gumba village in Mukurwe-ini constituency, Nyeri County.
Gikonyo’s eulogy, three paragraphs were enshrined inside the four-paged funeral programme with two photos of the deceased with the tribute noticeably missing key moments of his life such as when he got married, how many children he sired during his lifetime and when and how he met his unfortunate demise.
The eulogy only detailed the man’s birth, immediate family, education and occupation. It read as follows:
CELEBRATING THE MAN WHO WAS LOVING AND CARING
The late Tirus Maina was born in February 1984 at Mukurweini, Nyeri County. He was the third-born son of the late Joseph Gikonyo and Madrin Wangui. He was a loving brother to Jedidah Wangari, the late Judy Wairimu, Michael Mbore, Joyce Wanjiru and Isaiah Mwangi.
The late started his school at Kariara Primary and moved to Rutune Primary then Dedan Kimathi University.
The late Tirus relocated to Thika where he started working as an engineer since 2006 with different companies in and out of the country until his demise.
None of the deceased’s kin were introduced or made any speeches at the funeral service where also no photographs were allowed. The funeral programme also contained just two photographs of the deceased.
Hundreds of friends and relatives thronged the homestead for the burial which was hurriedly conducted without speeches or photography. The burial service was conducted by a pastor from the Anglican Church of Kenya. The ceremony was enveloped with tension as reports went around that the deceased had two wives who were all present. However, none of the wives nor the children was introduced.
According to one of Gikonyo’s close friends, who spoke to the media on condition of anonymity, a comprehensive eulogy had been prepared but friends and some relatives who gathered to pay their final respects to the deceased were shocked upon arrival at the homestead only to find a brief programme and how speedy the funeral service was conducted.
“We had done a very comprehensive eulogy but it is not the one we found here. The eulogy was only written in English, just one version, and was read out by one of the villagers. We were surprised when we saw this brief eulogy which is different from the initial one,” the source told the Media
It is reported that there was a little tension during the burial because the first and second wives were present and none of them was allowed to address the mourners.
On January 17, Maina was with his the 22-year-old secret lover identified as Fridah Warau Kamuyu at the dam away from the public eye to have a good time some 19 kilometres from his home in Thika town, Kiambu County, where his official family lives. The two were inside a Nissan X-trail vehicle which they had parked at the edge of the dam. The vehicle would however plunge into the dam at around 7pm under unclear circumstances.
It was also disclosed that the 22-year-old Fridah Warau Kamuyu who was found dead alongside Maina, ‘was his new catch’. The young lady was full of life, and her pictures are proof of that.
The woman, who was the first to be retrieved from the dam, could not be immediately identified since she had no identification documents in her possession.
The man was identified by his family moments after the vehicle was retrieved from the water when the car’s registration number started circulating on social media.
The source said that Maina’s first wife has three children who are all learning in prestigious schools.
The source mourned Mr Maina as a great entrepreneur who had excelled in business through Hardrock Engineering Company where he was a managing partner. The company, situated at Thika, deals with ballast.
“He was a great entrepreneur, but even his staff and colleagues were never allowed to address mourners. The business was booming and made him travel far and wide,” said the source
