Body of the late PS Mariam El Maawy arrives at JKIA

The body of late Public Works Permanent Secretary Mariam El Maawy arrived at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) on Friday night.

The late El Maawy who died on Tuesday while undergoing treatment in South Africa, will be buried on Saturday at Lang’ata Muslim Cemetery in Nairobi.

The Principal Secretary was injured in an Al Shabaab attack three months ago at Milihoi between Koreni and Hindi, about 40 kilometres northeast of Mpeketoni town.

The militants flagged down the PS's official car, which was an hour later found burnt about a kilometre away after the Kenya Defence Forces and police rescued her. Ms El-Maawy had a bullet lodged in her left shoulder and burns on her legs.

El-Maawy's death brings to seven the number of people who were killed following the July 13 incident. Her nephew, a trainee pilot with whom she was, also died in the attack.  

The PS, who had briefly been abducted, was rescued by a joint team of Kenya Defence Forces and General Service Unit personnel.

Reports indicated that the PS and several aides, including bodyguards, were seized by the armed militia at Milihoi on the highway between Mpeketoni and Mokowe in the Lamu. They were flagged down by the insurgents, who had captured several trucks on the road.