This archive report was first published on 24 August 2019.
On Saturday, August 24, 2019, a funeral service was held at Githambia Primary School in Gatanga, Murang'a County, to pay tribute to the life of John De'Mathew, a renowned contemporary benga musician.
De'Mathew, whose real name was John Ng'ang'a Mwangi, died in a road crash near Thika Town on Sunday night, August 18, 2019.
Since the news of his death broke, condolences have been pouring in from fellow musicians, fans, and political leaders from across the country.
De'Mathew, who was the chairman of the recently launched Tamco Sacco, was returning home from a fundraising meeting at Metro Fill bar in Thika when he met his death.
His death echoes a warning in his first popular hit, 'Peris Nduku', released in 1987, in which he narrates about his lover's death in a grisly road crash, warning that sometimes vehicles are unreliable.
Incidentally, De'Mathew died in a similar way as happened to his imaginary lover Nduku, as he was pronounced dead at the Thika Nursing Home after his car hit a trailer-truck from the rear as he drove up an incline near Thika's Blue Post Hotel along the Thika-Murang'a Road.
