• The parents, Barnabas and Leah Korir, said they organised the event in her remembrance as a sign of love for their late first-born daughter
• They described as disciplined and law-abiding citizen.
The parents of the late police corporal Caroline Kangogo hosted a handful of close relatives and friends for her first memorial service.
The low-key event was held at their Nyawa home in Keiyo North, Elgeyo Marakwet county.
The parents, Barnabas and Leah Korir, said they organised the event in her remembrance as a sign of love for their late first-born daughter, whom they described as disciplined and law-abiding citizen.
“We have no words to describe how we loved and cared for our daughter. It was a sad moment in our lives on the fateful day we stumbled on her body in the bathroom outside our main house,” a sobbing Korir said.
Tambach Catholic Church parish presided over the mass, which the local administration, leadership and Kangogo's former colleagues gave a wide berth.
Selinah Kibor, the late police corporal’s aunt, said she had lost a great friend who took care of her welfare while servicing with National Police Service in Nakuru county before she died two months ago.
Kibor said Kangogo should not be blamed for taking her own life as she was under intense stress and depression. She said had she received some guidance and counseling earlier, she could be alive today.
“How I wish I had met her before she took her own life. I would have guided and counseled her before handing her safely to the police to record a statement,” she said.
Kibor described Kangogo as a polite and obedient girl, adding that she was shocked to learn that she shot herself, something she described as unbelievable to the family.
Kangogo, who is accused of killing two men before shooting herself dead, was buried on July 30. She was denied police burial rites as is the norm due to circumstances under which she lost her life.
The cop, who was born on January 10, 1987, was, however, buried according to her wishes — dressed in a white gown.
She had joined the National Police Service in 2008, where she rose through the ranks to the position of corporal until her tragic death on July 16, 2021.
In 2014, she was certified as a sharp shooter at a Shooting Range Training.
An autopsy by chief government pathologist Johansen Oduor at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret revealed she succumbed to an injury by the bullet that went through the spine to the brain and skull.
Edited by EKibii