Worker feared dying far from home

Brothers Wellington Katimu, 27, and David Ingwana, 54, had called their family with the good news that they would be travelling home on December 21, to celebrate Christmas.

David’s eldest son, Joseph Maanjai, 24, would accompany them on the journey to Turbo in western Kenya.

It was the day their employer at a quarry in Koromey in Mandera had promised to release them for the Christmas holiday.

“We spoke on Friday evening and he told me that they were already planning to book transport, as there were very few buses to Nairobi from Mandera and he did not want to miss it,” said David’s wife, Tabitha Mutonyi.

On Monday evening, David called his younger brother, Daniel Katimu, and told him that he was not feeling well. He had tried to reach his wife, but her phone was off.
“He told me that he had been having some chest complications and wanted to inform his wife that he might be travelling earlier than planned. He said he needed medical attention and asked me to pray for him because he feared dying in such a far-flung area,” he said.

Unknown to him, David would face death in a way he so dreaded only four hours later — from a bullet fired by the Al-Shabaab. He would also be killed together with his youngest brother Wellington and his son, Joseph.

The quarry workers were ambushed as they slept early Tuesday morning by the militia and asked to line up on the ground with their faces to the ground.
They were then sprayed with bullets and their bodies left on the spot.

Their family was part of a grieving crowd that turned up Wednesday to identify the bodies of their loved one at City Mortuary in Nairobi. The bodies had been flown to Nairobi on Tuesday evening by the military. The Katimu family positively identified the bodies of their three relatives.

MOVE AWAY FROM MANDERA

“My two brothers had constantly been telling us that they were planning to move away from Mandera, and Wellington had told us that he would not go back next year,” Daniel said, adding that after the hijacking of a bus in Mandera two weeks ago, the family became worried about their safety.

“We kept asking them to return home, but they told us that they stayed in a safer place. They also told us that it was safer to stay in Koromey than to travel, as it was riskier on the road,” said Daniel.

David, Wellington and Joseph worked for one contractor at the quarry. David has been working at the quarry for the past four years.

He recruited his brother, who was working at a different quarry in Rongai, in January this year, since the pay was higher in Mandera.

“After every three months, the three would come home together and spend time with us for about two weeks and go back to work. They were last at home in August,” said Daniel.

Mrs Katimu said her husband was very concerned about his family’s welfare and worked hard to ensure that his wife and their three children were comfortable.
“He kept sending money home and always asked us to use it well. He was very hard working” she said. Apart from Joseph, David and his wife have three other children aged 20, 16 and 14.

“I have seen their bodies. My husband, my bother-in-law and my son have bullets in the rib, neck and chest respectively. Their bodies are in a very bad state,” said Mrs Katimu.

“I have always been hearing about the Al-Shabaab on radio and reading about them in newspapers, but I never knew that one day, they would kill my family. My family has not interacted with the Al-Shabaab.

‘‘We have not denied them anything. We have not crossed their path. We have not done anything wrong and we are sad that they had to talk to the government by killing our innocent loved ones,” Mrs Katimu said in tears.

The family will conduct one burial at their home next week. The postmortem exam on the bodies of the 36 people killed that fateful night is expected to begin today and will go on for three days.