Emotions run high as Mama Lucy Kibaki's body lands at JKIA

Kenya Army officers carry the casket with the body of former First Lady Lucy Kibaki at JKIA. (Photo: Elvis Ogina/Standard)

Nairobi: On a cloudy and chilly morning, a plane carrying the body of former First Lady Lucy Kibaki touched down at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 5.20am Sunday.

It was an emotional scene as the casket draped in the Kenyan flag was removed from the belly of a Kenya Airways aircraft, as the three days of national mourning began.

Retired President Mwai Kibaki looked emotionally drained, as he walked down the steps, his right hand on the rail and his bodyguards watching his every step.

It was a tragic turn of events, for a week earlier when Lucy had been flown to the UK for further treatment, he had left the country a husband but was now back as a widower.

Their daughter, Judy, and other family members followed behind as they came down the stairway, as President Uhuru and First Lady Margaret Kenyatta watched pensively.

On the runway tarmac, President Uhuru shook his predecessor’s hands firmly, placing his left hand on the clasped hands, and whispered to him a condolence message.

Kibaki’s two sons looked on, the sombre moment only interrupted by flashing camera lights.

The President then led the mourning family to the tent where Kibaki sat to his right next to Deputy President William Ruto for prayers conducted by Catholic priest Fr Dominic Wamugunda. The leaders overlooked a white marquee under which the casket was placed on a raised platform.

Atop the coffin was a portrait photograph of Lucy, her face beaming with life. And once in a while, mourners would stare at it as they tried to absorb the sad reality that she has gone to be with the Lord.

National Assembly Majority Leader Aden Duale, a host of senior Government officials and clergy were present, with some maintaining crossed hands in the front throughout the proceedings.

And at the country’s main airport, the flags were flying at half-mast, signifying the State burial that awaits her on Saturday at their Othaya home.

Earlier at 6.10am, Mama Lucy Kibaki’s body was lowered from the Boeing Dreamliner to a sombre hymn by the State House Choir – the same musical group that entertained her during her 10 years in the house on the hill.

The choir had been condoling with the Kibaki family and a host of mourners that were at the airport as early as 4am.

It had also been interceding on her behalf for God’s mercies. “It is well, it is well, with my soul. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come. Let this blest assurance control,” sang the choir.

The flag she had seen fly at State House and during State functions draped her casket, which was carried by six military officers matching on a red carpet to the rhythm of the sombre hymn that marked the close of the one-and-a-half-hour event.

Mr Kibaki, son Jimmy, family members, friends and Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed shared with the former first lady her last flight from a foreign land.

The former president and close family members had accompanied her to Bupa Cromwell Hospital in South West London on April 23. Kibaki took a while to come down the Dreamliner’s stairs – his two aides assisting him every step of the way.

The casket was put under a small tent set up for prayers led by Fr Wamugunda.

The prayers were conducted in accordance with the Catholic doctrine, with the choir performing some select Catholic hymns.

“In your mercy turn the darkness of death into the dawn of new life,” Fr Wamugunda said in his prayers for the late Lucy.

He later sprinkled holy water on the casket before the choir belted out another hymn in praise of the Creator for granting Lucy 82 years on earth.

She had used the same airport when she left to seek treatment in London, and her family must have had high hopes she would come back in better health.

And Sunday, instead of driving in the same vehicle with her loving husband of 54 years, she was driven away in a Mercedes Benz hearse to Lee Funeral Home.

Former President Kibaki trailed behind in another Mercedes Benz, not to their home but to witness where Lucy’s body will lay as State and family begin burial arrangements.

Before being transferred to London for further treatment, the former First Lady had had a month-long stay at Nairobi Hospital.

Since 2010 during the promulgation of the new Constitution, Lucy had kept a low profile, hardly being seen in public.

President Kenyatta had announced three days of national mourning starting Sunday, with the Government forming a national working committee comprising members of the Kibaki family and Government officials to ensure she receives a befitting send-off.

“Three days of national mourning starts today as flags fly at half-mast in honour of Mama Lucy Kibaki,” said the President Sunday.