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Why Charles Njonjo was swiftly cremated
News of Njonjo’s death filtered from the State House as his body was being moved to the crematorium. He died in his sleep at the age of 101.
• His cremation was a private affair. Media and non-family members were locked out.
Charles Njonjo had given firm instructions that he be cremated and the announcement of his death be made after his was body was fitted in the furnace.
Harish Patel, from Kariokor Hindu Crematorium, said Njonjo’s family notified them early last year that his slot be booked in the event of his death. Patel told the Star the body was in their possession by 9.30am.
News of Njonjo’s death filtered from the State House as his body was being moved to the crematorium. He died in his sleep at the age of 101.
His cremation was a private affair. Media and non-family members were locked out.
Multiple reports indicated that less than 25 people attended.
His son-in-law Carey Ngini told the press that Njonjo was “very clear of what he wanted in death.”
“Part of those instructions was that he should be cremated immediately after his passing. He didn’t want any funfair or any celebration. He did not want what goes on in funerals offered to people of his stature,” Ngini told one of the outlets.
The body was dressed in a three-piece pinstriped black suit, a tie and a flower on the lapel.
“He was fully suited just like he dressed in life. And as I had told you before, the instructions were strict to have no one else,” Patel said.
His body was not in a coffin.
President Uhuru Kenyatta’s brother Muhoho Kenyatta, alongside his wife, attended the brief ceremony to represent the larger Kenyatta family.
Family members gathered briefly before handing the body over to cremation officials.
“It was quick. Once they handed over the body, we just fitted it into the furnace. Most of them left immediately,” Patel recounted.
By the time information about the death filtered out and journalists rushed to the crematorium, but only smoke from the electric furnace chimneys greeted them.
Uhuru eulogised Njonjo as a national hero who had contributed immensely to the country’s constitutional and legal founding.
He said the passing on of Njonjo was “a big blow not only to his immediate family, friends and relatives but to all Kenyans…the entire African continent because of his leading role in the founding of the nation at Independence.”
