September 29, 2019, will be a day to forget for John Wambua who lost a wife and her four-year-old daughter after their car slid off MV Harambee and plunged into the Indian Ocean. 

On a material day, Mariam Kighenda had gone to the farm on the other side of the Likoni channel accompanied by her daughter Amanda Mutheu. 

Wambua recalls communicating twice with her wife before the incident. They first communicated through a phone call at around 1 pm after Mariam finished checking on the farm.

“Getting into the farm, she informed she did all the harvesting of the vegetables. She called asking me if there was anything else and then embarked on her journey back.”

They communicated again a few minutes after Mariam boarded the ferry not knowing that was the last time hearing from her wife. 

“Once she was onboard I just checked on her and she confirmed that she already in the vessel. ”

Wambua got an alert on twitter that a car had slid into the ocean and looking at the viral video of the sinking car he figured out similarities with theirs. 

He dashed to the scene where he learned that it was her wife’s car that plunged into the ocean. 

The widower refuted claims that his wife could have accidentally engaged the reverse gear saying the retrieved car was in parking gear and the handbrake was engaged. 

Mariam Kagenda was a businesswoman and married to Wambua for 13 years. He described her as friendly, industrious and a firm believer in family virtues. 

Amanda was a student at MM Shah Primary School in Tudor, Mombasa and Wambua described her daughter as a charming girl and their relationship was cemented with nothing but glamour.

“She was a very sweet girl, I was so attached to her.”

The deceased will be buried in Mung’ala village, Makueni County.