Nairobi bids farewell to Kanini's quintuplets

Bodies of Bravinm Bravlyn, Bravelle, Bravina and Braelyn carried to the All Saints Cathedral, Nairobi for requiem mass on September 24, 2026. [Courtesy]

Five small white caskets arrived at All Saints Cathedral on Thursday, carrying the remains of Bravin, Bravlyn, Bravelle, Bravina and Braelyn — quintuplets whose brief lives were cut short immediately after birth.

Family, friends and well-wishers gathered at the Nairobi’s All Saints Cathedral for a requiem and memorial service for the five babies, who died shortly after being born prematurely at Thika Level 5 Hospital.

The babies were named Bravin, Bravlyn, Bravelle, Bravina and Braelyn — names that now represent five lives that had barely begun.

Their remains were transferred from the Kenyatta National Hospital mortuary to the church in white caskets where mourners gathered to remember them.

At the church, emotions ran high as images of the five caskets being carried one after another captured the weight of the family's loss.

Kanini who already has two children, stood pensively to see her  five children who came together separated by the caskets from the cathedral to the waiting hearse.

The babies will be buried at their father's ancestral home in Kuria, Migori County.

The quintuplets were born on September 14 after their 28-year-old mother, Mercy Kanini Mutiso, was admitted to the hospital after going into labour the previous day from Juja, Kiambu County.

But the joy quickly turned into grief when the babies were delivered at about 25 to 26 weeks of gestation, weighing between 600 and 800 grammes each.

Because of their extreme prematurity, the newborns were transferred by ambulance to Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi for specialised neonatal care.

Despite efforts by medical teams, all five died within about 48 hours, leaving their parents, Mercy and Evans Nyamhanga, facing the devastating task of burying all their children at once.

Former Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko and comedian and activist Eric Omondi were among those who attended the farewell.