One month after the sudden death and burial of celebrated Kikuyu gospel musician Betty Bayo, a bitter and dramatic family battle has erupted, stretching from Kiambu to the United States, where her grieving 76-year-old mother has launched a legal and emotional fight to uncover what she calls “the real truth” about her daughter’s mysterious final days.
What began as a quiet tragedy on November 10, 2025 has morphed into a storm of accusations, suspicion, grief, and demands for justice, led by Betty’s mother, Joyce Wairimu Mbugua, who insists her daughter did not die an ordinary death.
She now wants Betty’s body exhumed for a fresh forensic postmortem, claiming that the rushed burial, hidden medical and autopsy reports, and unanswered medical questions point to a darker truth no one wants to speak about.
“A postmortem must be carried out on my daughter’s body so that we can have clarity on what exactly killed her,” Wairimu demands.
In a formal letter addressed to Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Renson Ingonga dated December 9, 2025, Wairimu, through her lawyer Geoffrey Omenke, has demanded the opening of an inquest into the sudden death of her daughter, insisting in black-and-white that she suspects “an evil hand” may have been involved.
“The family has had to go through unbearable pain in accepting the fact that the deceased (Betty), who had never exhibited any illness, would just die mysteriously. The family suspects an evil hand in the death of the deceased,” the letter states in part.
Betty died on November 10, 2025, at approximately 1:03pm at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) after battling blood cancer (leukaemia). Her body was later transferred on November 11, from KNH to the mortuary at Kenyatta University Referral Hospital ahead of her burial days later at her Mugumo farm in Kiambu County.
By the time of her death, Betty had remarried Hiram “Tash” Gitau after divorcing controversial Pastor Victor Kanyari, her first husband.
According to the letter, Wairimu, who is based in the US and did not attend her daughter’s burial, argues that Betty had no known history of any underlying medical condition, noting that she had not shown any signs of illness that would indicate a life-threatening condition.
This, she says, has deepened her suspicion that the circumstances leading to the musician’s death were unusual and require independent scrutiny.
The mother further claims she was denied access to the autopsy report, despite repeated requests, leaving her without answers regarding what may have caused her 42-year-old daughter’s sudden collapse and death.
Rushed burial
Wairimu also raises concern about what she describes as the rushed burial, saying the process was conducted unusually quickly and without giving the family sufficient time to understand the medical events preceding the death.
“The deceased was hurriedly buried to conceal some facts that may have led to her death, and the family was denied medical records and information on what she was being treated for,” Wairimu’s lawyer says.
The mother urged DPP Ingonga to direct the Inspector General of Police to urgently institute an inquest into the circumstances surrounding the musician’s death.
“The family thus expresses their utmost disdain, and thus demand for you to hereby direct the Inspector General to urgently move with speed and institute an inquest into the circumstances surrounding the death of Beatrice Wairimu Mbugua, alias Betty Bayo,” Omenke requests.
The request for an inquest is anchored in Articles 26(3), 35, and 157(4) of the Constitution, which empower the state to intervene when the cause of death is unclear or potentially suspicious.
The move to formally write to the DPP follows Wairimu’s comments made on December 6, 2025, during a Facebook Live discussion with Shiru Wa Oakland.
Speaking during the emotional interview, the elderly mother, voice cracking, sometimes shifting between anger and tears, opened a raw chapter of what she describes as betrayal, secrecy, and possible foul play.
Wairimu, who spoke in Kikuyu from the USA where she lives with one of her daughters, Susan, accused Tash, the man Betty was living with at the time of her death, of blocking the family from accessing her grandchildren after the burial.
Further, the man was accused of hiding important documents of multi-million-shilling property, financially draining her late daughter, physically abusing her, keeping relatives away from his home, and preventing her from knowing the truth about how her daughter fell ill, deteriorated, and passed away.
She also says she only learned of her daughter’s illness seven days before her death, and even then, information was scarce, inconsistent, or confusing.
“From the first day, something was wrong,” she says.
“The sickness, the secrecy, the speed of the burial, everything was strange. I was never told anything. I was informed my child was sick (bleeding) one week before she died.”
Most alarming, Wairimu says she learned during the burial that Betty was bleeding from the head when rushed to hospital, prompting deeper fears that something violent may have preceded her death.
“How does someone get cancer within a week and then die? Why was her body not subjected to a postmortem? I received disturbing details that she was bleeding from the head before she died,” said a distraught Wairimu.
The mother says since receiving the news of her last-born daughter, she has yet to believe Betty is no more.
“Since the day she died I have been in distress. I never eat or believe that Betty is no more till today. I want justice for my daughter,” Wairimu emotionally narrated.
She said Betty, once vibrant, ambitious, and financially independent, had become withdrawn and sounded “exhausted, stressed, and scared” in some of their last conversations.
“My daughter was suffering. She was being pushed, controlled, and drained. And now even in death, we cannot get peace because nothing is adding up,” Wairimu stated.
Financial strain
According to Wairimu, her daughter was already struggling financially before her death, something she attributes to Tash’s alleged pressure and demands for money. At one point, she alleges, Betty told her that life had become unbearably expensive because Tash was taking money from her daily.
The mother further claims the relationship was violent. “My daughter was being beaten by her husband. She wrote me a message one day asking, ‘Ooh mummy, who did you leave me with here?” Wairimu said.
According to Wairimu, the relationship between Betty and Tash was never formalised under Kikuyu customary law. He had not completed the dowry payment, and therefore, from a Kikuyu cultural perspective, cannot claim to be Betty’s husband.
“He has not finished paying Betty’s dowry to claim he married her fully. He came to us akatoa kitu ile alitoa but did not finish the last two stages... I swear in the name of God, what happened is not a Kikuyu marriage ceremony,” claims Wairimu.
Tash, she says, is already legally married to another woman abroad, a first wife with whom he has two daughters living in Boston.
“Tash who is a truck driver, is legally married to a first wife in a church wedding, he has two children, all girls, who live abroad in Boston. He never provides child support to them, even the mother who lives here can come out and confirm this,” Wairimu said.
This, she says, disqualifies any notion that he could inherit or claim Betty’s property because Tash’s first marriage still exists.
“So Tash has no right to take at all Betty’s assets, landed properties, cars, clothes, or anything. He will not take anything, anything, even a single thing when I am alive,” Wairimu said.
Children safety
The deepest fear the elderly mother expresses, however, revolves around Betty’s children. She says the children were left inside the couple’s house in Edenville along Kiambu Road immediately after the burial, leaving them vulnerable.
She maintains the safety of Betty’s children is at stake since Tash has been cut off from their Kenyan relatives, meaning the children are living under what she describes as a dangerous environment.
She insists they must be removed from the Kiambu house immediately. Wairimu fears the Uganda househelp who had been taking care of her grandchildren may have already been dismissed by Tash.
“What will happen? Are the children eating? Can he cook for them? Where are they since they are on holiday?” posed Wairimu, tears rolling down her cheeks.
She calls for the children to be handed over either to their biological father, Pastor Victor Kanyari, or to her other daughter Wanjiku living in Kenya, whom she says the children know well and trust. “I want Kanyari to go to the police, get an OB number, and take the children. They should go to Wanjiku. I will pay for anywhere they go,” she said.
Before the burial, the family had a virtual meeting which agreed that Betty’s sisters would take care of the children. After the burial, Tash allegedly refused, telling the family to go to court. Wairimu claims she has been denied communication with the children since the funeral.
Another flashpoint in the escalating family war involves Betty’s children’s birth certificates, her property documents, monetisation access to her online platforms, and Wairimu’s own Kenyan ID card, which are all being held inside Tash’s home.
The grandmother describes the burial night as chaotic, disturbing, and disrespectful. She says she received details from close friends that two goats were slaughtered, people drank alcohol and used drugs the entire night, and the children stayed awake throughout the commotion.
One of Wairimu’s most painful accusations is that the burial was intentionally fast-tracked. She says she wanted the burial permit issued in her name, as Betty’s mother and next of kin, but this never happened. Instead, she claims the permit was issued under Tash’s name, against her wishes.
Past controversy
Gospel singer Betty and controversial Pastor Kanyari separated around 2015, which created one of the country’s most publicised breakups. Their relationship produced two children, and after their split, fans watched years of online banter, reconciliation attempts, co-parenting tensions, and subtle shade.
For years, the public assumed the two had moved on peacefully. But fractures remained, now apparent after Betty’s death. Kanyari, meanwhile, attended the burial and posted cryptic messages afterward.
When the singer married Tash, fans celebrated her fresh start. He was seen as calm, stable, and a supportive partner. Their life looked peaceful, from photos at church, their home, trips with the children, and a few skits online.
But according to Wairimu, behind the curated images was a very different story. She claims her daughter was financially drained, emotionally stressed, and being beaten by Tash.
Music legacy
Betty, widely celebrated in Kenya’s music scene, was known for her soulful performances and hit songs that endeared her to fans across the country. Some of her most popular tracks included “Eleventh Hour,” “Umenitoa Mbali,” “Wendo wa Ki,” and “Nimekubali,” songs that cemented her place as a beloved figure in the gospel industry.
Her sudden death has left a deep void in the local music industry, with many fans and fellow musicians expressing shock and grief over the loss.
But behind the music lies a private storm that now spills into public view. For many of her followers, her death raises unsettling questions.
For her mother, those questions are not merely unsettling, they are tormenting. Until she gets answers, she vows she will not rest.
Her final words during the livestream were resolute: “This is my official statement: I seek people of good will to help me... and I will follow this matter to the end.”
As of the time of publishing this story, the DPP and Police had not issued a public response to the formal inquiry, and Tash has not responded to the allegations made by Betty’s mother.