Ex-minister crem***d at private event after 4 hours
The late former Attorney General Charles Njonjo adds to a growing list of prominent Kenyans who have been cremated according to their wishes.
Cremation is the disposal of a dead person’s body by burning it to ashes, typically after a funeral ceremony.
Despite the fact that it has been around for a while, cremation has mostly gained popularity among the elite in Kenya.
The 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner, the late Prof Wangari Mathai was cremated in 2011 at a private ceremony at the Kariokor crematorium.
The family of the environmentalist and the government agreed to cremate the body and later the ashes were interred at the Wangari Maathai Institute for Peace and Environmental Studies, in accordance with her wishes.
Veteran politician Kenneth Matiba was cremated in April 2018 at the Lang’ata Crematorium.
Matiba, who vied for the presidency in 1992 suffered cardiac arrest and died at the Karen Hospital ICU in Nairobi aged 85.
Renowned Kenyan gay activist and author Kenneth Binyavanga Wainaina was cremated in Nairobi following his death, which occurred after suffering a stroke.
Binyavanga’s body was incinerated at Kariokor Crematorium in a low-key event attended by close family members and friends.
Former Safaricom CEO Bob Collymore joined the growing list of prominent Kenyans who chose cremation over burial.
Collymore was cremated at the Kariokor Crematorium in a private function restricted only to Safaricom top officials, family members and a few State officers.
The British-Kenyan businessman died on Monday morning, July 1, 2019 at the age of 61 at his home in Nairobi after a long battle with cancer.
Former Head of Civil Service Jeremiah Kiereini was cremated in March 2019 at a private family function.
The family said it was Kiereini’s desire to be cremated.
Former chairperson of the Maendeleo ya Wanawake Organisation, the late Jane Kiano was also cremated on October 27, 2018 at the Kariokor crematorium two days after her death.
Kiano died aged 74 years at the Nairobi Hospital after a long battle with lung cancer. She was the widow of the late former Cabinet minister Julius Gikonyo Kiano.
