By Anderson Ojwang
It was meant to be a 40 minutes’ drive. A drive in response to a daughter’s distress call. A rescue mission. The supposed 40-minute drive and the rescue operation turned into pain, heartbreak, and tragedy.
On Saturday, in Kapkures Ward, Nakuru Town West Sub-County, stood the heartbreaking testimony of the 40-minute drive and rescue operation.
In the casket lay the mother and wife, Faith Chepkemoi Koskei, and on the wheelchair, wheeled straight from his hospital bed to witness the last ceremony of his love, sat pensively, Wakili Emmanuel Koskei.
After undergoing two successful surgeries, Koskei was expected to return to the hospital after the service to undergo a third operation.
Faith died on her way to Utumishi Academy in Gilgil following a fire tragedy that left 16 girls at the school dead. Nine suspects were recently arraigned in court and have been remanded for 21 days at Nakuru Children’s Remand Home.
Naivasha Court Chief Magistrate Abdulqadir Ramadan ordered the detention of the suspects and denied the release of the minors on bond or bail, saying the reasons advanced by the prosecution were compelling.
Emotional drain
The cloud was thick and pregnant with emotional turmoil. The unusual stealth silence spoke loudly of the profound pain and sad moment the mourners, relatives, children, and husband found themselves in at the burial service of Faith.
The presence of Wakili Koskei on a wheelchair with white bandages strapped on his limbs, and medical aides wheeling and monitoring him, sent the mourners into tears.
When he took the microphone to eulogise the love of his life, in a soft, slow voice, calm but wrenched in pain, Wakili said: “My love, I release you with a promise: I will take care of our beautiful child.”
The Moment
“The relationship of more than 22 years has just come to an end. My best friend, confidant, and pillar… My base has just left me. She was a pillar, the way my sister-in-law said. For me to be what I am, to wake up in the morning and go to work for all those years, it is because of her.”
The path
“She chose a path which I don’t think any other educated, graduate lady can take. Right from our first born, Abel, Patience, and Baraka, she told me: ‘I need no maid to take care of my kids.’ So all my children never passed through the hands of a maid, and it was her choice.”
A woman of all seasons
“We did not live a rosy life all through, and I call her an all-season woman. Whenever we were down, just like any other family, none could know that we were down as a family. My children have called her a name and saved her in their phones. I know in Abel’s phone, he has saved her as Wonder Woman.”
The 40 minutes
“I have released you. I have accepted to release you. We were going for our daughter because of the distress call. I could only do what a father can do. If Patience could have been in Mombasa, I would have planned to travel the following one. I saw it was only 40 minutes away, and I would be in school. Little did I know that that was our last journey.”
The promise
“The children we have had together, as my father-in-law has said, I will take care of them as long as I am living. So be rest assured wherever you are that they are happy.”
The last treasure
“Two months ago, I looked for that message. She wrote a long text. I was in Nairobi. At 3.00 am, as usual, you can check your phone, and I saw a message. I only read three paragraphs and told myself, in the morning, I will finish reading it all. Everything was appreciation. She wrote about Abel from the day he was born until the day he went to Mombasa and to date. She wrote about Patience and Baraka. She then concluded by writing about ourselves, the two of us. How I approached her in Moi University. How we met. She was very clear to write to me that you didn’t even tell me ‘excuse me.’ I told her I was brought up in the savannah.”
Love beyond the boundary
“Thank you for the time we have had together. Thank you for the love. Thank you for loving our children. Wherever we lived, I never heard anyone saying you had abused her or him. My village and neighbours here, you can bear me witness: my wife does not have any debt, not even Sh100 owed to anyone. I thank you for the time God gave us together,” he said.
Kericho Governor Dr Erick Mutai described Faith as a loving mother and wife who was the rock of the family.
“One day, we engaged in a late political discussion with Wakili. The wife called. He gave me the phone to talk to her. I excused myself and asked her for an additional two years before my friend could go home. Koskei respected and loved his wife; he didn’t want anything that interfered in their marriage,” he said.
Nakuru Governor Susan Kihika said the death of Faith was tragic and wished the family well.
Memorial service
On Friday, a joint memorial service was held for the 16 girls who lost their lives in the tragic Utumishi Academy school fire.
Fifteen hearses were lined up at the Naivasha Funeral Home and transported the bodies to the memorial service, after which they were released to their respective families for burial ceremonies.
