This archive report was first published on 17 October 2019.
On October 16, 2019, President Uhuru Kenyatta took swift action in response to the ferry incident that resulted in the deaths of Mariam Kighenda and her 4-year-old daughter Amanda Mutheu. He revoked the appointments of all members of the Kenya Ferry Services board, including Dan Mwazo as Chairman and Daula Omar, Naima Amir, Philip Ndolo, and Rosina Nasigha Mruttu as members.
According to a special gazette notice, President Kenyatta exercised his powers under the State Corporations Act to revoke the appointments, effective October 16, 2019. The notice read: "IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by section 7 (3) of the State Corporations Act, I, Uhuru Kenyatta, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Defence Forces of the Republic of Kenya, revokes the appointments of Dan Mwazo, Daula Omar, Naima Amir, Philip Ndolo, Rosina Nasigha Mruttu, as Non-Executive Chairperson and members of the Kenya Ferry Services Limited, with effect from the 16th October, 2019."
The tragic incident occurred when the car Mariam Kighenda was driving slipped out of the MV Harambee ferry and sank into the Indian Ocean. The bodies of Mariam and her daughter, along with their car, were retrieved from the Likoni Ferry Crossing channel 13 days after the incident.
John Wambua, Mariam's husband, has accused the Kenya Ferry Services of negligence, stating that his wife was an experienced driver and would never have made such a mistake. A post-mortem conducted on the bodies revealed that Mariam and her daughter died due to suffocation.
The family has expressed satisfaction with the post-mortem results and plans to proceed with burial arrangements. However, they intend to sue the Kenya Ferry Services for their role in the incident.
