Kayole house fire: Pain of losing three children

Winnie Kemunto was looking forward to celebrating her only child’s birthday this coming Saturday.

Melannie Kerubo would be turning two years. Little did she know that her daughter's life would be cut short on Sunday evening in a fire accident at her Mathaiga home in Kayole, Nairobi.

Melannie died alongside her cousins, three-year-old Hannah Kerubo and one-year-old Prudence Nyanchama.

That fateful night, Kemunto had left the children with their grandmother. She went to work as was her daily routine.

"At around 7pm, my mother had boiled water using firewood and bathed all the children and even cooked food for the family,” a heartbroken Kemunto said.

At this point, Kemunto’s mother put out the fire and left the house to go shopping. It takes about five to 10 minutes to reach the shop. Things took a turn for the worse in her absence. 

"We live in a place called Muthaiga, which is just located next to the quarry and it gets very windy, especially at night, and that is when the firewood lit again because of the wind,” she said.

The fire reignited and spread in the kitchen. The three children were asleep in the bedroom.

Seven-year-old Sharleen Nyamkemana, the sister of Hannah and Prudence, noticed the fire and rushed out of the house to alert neighbours.

“By the time my mother was coming back from the shop, the fire had spread and neighbours were trying to put it out. But, unfortunately, I lost my baby and two of my nieces," Kemunto said.

 According to the neighbours, the fire spread to three other houses. Household items were reduced to ashes. Pigs and chickens also died.

Kayole Central MCA Jeremiah Themendu said firefighters only arrived after people had managed to put out the fire.

"We alerted the firefighters, but, as usual, they arrived at the scene late after the neighbours had managed to put out the fire,” Themendu said.

 “To avoid further destruction, we had to demolish the fourth house as three had already been razed to the ground.”

On Monday, Nairobi assembly Majority leader and Matopeni/Spring Valley MCA Abdi Hassan Guyo visited the site and condoled with the victims.

Guyo donated iron sheets to enable them to rebuild their homes. He also donated were mattresses, blankets and foodstuffs.

“Losing a child in such a way is very painful...We would have come last night but were very far from here,” Guyo said.

Guyo has declared interest in the Embakasi Central parliamentary seat in the 2022 General Election.

“I want to say that I will take care of the funeral expenses of all those who passed on in this incident. We will cater for the travelling expenses too,” he added.

Guyo also promised to purchase a machine to help the youth working at the waste yard in Kayole recycle the garbage and improve their incomes.

Area MP Benjamin Mwangi also visited the victims.