Charles Mwenda, the Meru man who was abandoned by the police to spend a rainy night with wife’s corpse is now 570K shillings richer.
A news report by Kenyan.co.ke indicates that Kenyans have pulled together a Ksh 570,000 fund in his name within the last three days.
The fund is aimed at supporting the 29-year-old widower and his three young children, among them a six-month old baby.
The report also indicates that the money is not the only thing Mwenda is parting with.
An unnamed volunteer offered to pay a househelp for a year; someone that would help him raise his children.
Ndung’u Nyoro was on the fore front of the social media fundraiser labelled “Jaza Kikapu.”
Some time in May, Mwenda shared his tear-jerking story of how some police officers abandoned him with late wife’s body outside Kianjai Police Station in Meru.
Being in the middle of the night and no other place to go due to COVID-19 curfew, he and wife’s lifeless body took shield from the rain under a truck.
According to Mwenda, his wife succumbed to cancer. He and 31 other mourners were travelling home from Malindi for the burial.
However, their journey was interrupted at a Tharaka Nithi checkpoint.
Despite the mourners having the legal documents proving COVID-19 clearance, they were barred from continuing the journey.
The casket was offloaded from their vehicle and put in a police vehicle instead.
Only him was allowed to progress with the journey. Speaking to the Daily Nation, Mwenda said:
“We arrived at the Keeria border checkpoint at 11pm Thursday where police stopped the bus and ordered all passengers out of the bus. After a lengthy discussion, all my relatives and friends were forced back to Malindi. I was left alone with the casket which was offloaded from the bus and put in a police car.”
They headed to Kianjai Police Station where he was dumped despite him pleading to be taken home which was five kilometres away.
Mwenda reported that he spent the night outside the station as it was not until 6:00AM the following day that his friend came to pick him up.
His story of suffering in the hands of police injustices angered many Kenyans. Some of whom vowed to do anything to support the grieving widower.