Wilfred Murungi, the mastermind tobacco tycoon, was laid to rest in an unusual one-hour funeral ceremony at his home in Magutuni village, Tharaka-Nithi County.
Only eight family members and a few acquaintances who had been invited to attend the funeral ritual were present. All other visitors who did not have an invitation were turned away.
His body was evacuated from Nairobi and transported by hearse from Kiurani Primary School, where a second chopper carrying his four children had already arrived.
Because he had not been invited, a nephew of the late billionaire who had driven his mother to the burial was left outside when his mother entered for the ceremony. Additionally, no printed copies of the eulogy, funeral program, or tributes were available.
Those who dug the tycoon’s grave were likewise thrown out during the ceremony, and only returned inside to finish filling a grave that was already halfway filled.
Outsiders were not allowed near the casket containing the billionaire’s remains, and no food was served to mourners during the service, according to a government official who attended the funeral as security staff.
After then, family members boarded the two choppers and flew back to Nairobi without speaking to the villagers.
Wife
In 2010, his wife’s body was also flown in to the same school for a burial that was supposed to be attended by 40 people only.
Wife’s burial
Murungi did not attend his wife’s burial, with some relatives claiming it was out of respect for her wishes. Instead, he escorted the body from Nairobi, handed it over to the children and left.
Yesterday, residents expressed their disappointment at being locked out of the burial of a man they described as generous to a fault.
“It is unfortunate that we did not get a chance to appreciate his generosity with a good send-off that he deserved. We were told he decided to make it a private family affair,” said Nancy Kainyu, a resident.
Members of the Arua clan, to which Murungi belonged, expressed their disappointment after being denied a chance to bury one of their own.
A local administrator intimated to the media that no one was allowed close to the casket carrying Murungi’s body on its arrival at the school grounds.
Even the few men hired earlier to dig his grave were turned away at the gate during his burial.
Journalists were not even allowed anywhere near the gate.
There were no photographers, no printed eulogies, not even meals during the event that took one hour before his family quickly boarded the two choppers and left.
They left behind a host of disappointed people, including businessmen from Magutuni town, who had expected to make a kill from mourners.
Wilfred Murungi career
Murungi first worked as an engineer with the British American Tobacco before quitting to set up Mastermind Tobacco in the late 1980s – first in Nakuru and then, when the business did well, in Nairobi.
He survived intense battles from his competitors in the tobacco industry, and the Government, which demanded millions in taxes.
After starting the company, Murungi became a recluse. Many in his home area rarely saw him at his palatial homes in Magutuni and Mwiria in Maara sub-county.
The homes are so heavily guarded that visitors have to pass through four gates to reach the homestead.
Still, behind the gates, Murungi actively participated in charity work, albeit through proxies.
Offered to tarmac
At one time, he is said to have offered to tarmac Keria-Magutuni and Katharaka Ikumbo roads. The story goes that the offer was turned down by a local politician who feared the millionaire was plotting a political entrance.
He treated the nearby Kiurani Secondary School as his pet project, buying the students their first school bus and sponsoring the construction of a multipurpose hall named after him.
