Nairobi — The public viewing of the body of independence heroine Mukami Kimathi will be held on Saturday ahead of the burial.
The celebrated widow of the revered Mau Mau freedom fighter died last week aged 101.
Interior Principal Secretary Raymond Omollo, who chairs her funeral committee, said the public will be accorded an opportunity to view her body at the Lee Funeral Home on Saturday morning 6-7am.
"Thereafter, the cortege will leave for the burial a ceremony which will be held on the same day at her rural home in Njabini, Nyandarua County as per the family wishes," Omollo said in a statement.
Several leaders, including Opposition chief Raila Odinga had urged the government to bury Mukami at the Uhuru Gardens in honour of freedom fighters who were tortured there.
And some like Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria wanted the remains of her husband exhumed from Kamiti Prison for a joint burial with Mukami at their home.
Until her death, Mukami had been advocating for the exhumation of the remains of her husband to be buried at their home.
Official government records show that Kimathi was captured by the colonial administration in 1956 at Kahigaini in the Aberdare ranges and executed in 1957 in Kamiti Prison.
"I do not want to die before being shown the exact place where my husband was buried. I want to see the remains of my Kimathi before I go. I do not have long to live and this matter has been a thorn in my flesh," Mukami said in a recent media interview months to her death.
The search for the remains of the patriarch started as far back as 1980s when the family petitioned the State to help them locate it in what attracted global attention. and several stated including Argentina offered to help.
"I want to be shown my husband's grave. I want to know where he was buried. No one knows where my Kimathi was buried except the British government and I want President William Ruto and King Charles to intervene in this matter," Mukami told the media late last year.
Kimathi, born Kimathi wa Waciuri, was a senior military and spiritual leader of the Mau Mau uprising who led the armed struggle against the British colonial regime in Kenya in the 1950's until 1956 when he was captured and executed a year later. He is believed to have been born in 1920.
