'I Touched Her Face, She was Still Warm!' Boniface Mwangi Talks About His Dead Mothers Last Moments

Piece by: Grace Kerongo
Lifestyle

Controversial social activist turned politician, Boniface Mwangi has opened up in a touching post. Boniface walks his fan through his painful and scary journey as a child when he lost his mother.

Read how he found out his mother had died,

"Today, 16 years ago my mother passed on. My mother taught me hard work and integrity. She loved me more than anyone ever will and the life lessons she taught me have kept me going to date. She didn't punish me for reading "big books" like my school teachers did. When l was expelled from school and she couldn't afford to take me to another school, therefore she taught me how to hawk in the streets of Nairobi. I was 17 when she died."

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Boniface shared an excerpt from the chapter "My Mother Dies" from his newly released book #BMunBounded.

"My mother could have done many other businesses. She was smart, moderately educated and a people’s person. However, she chose to exclusively sell Bibles and Christian books.

My mother had complained for a while that she was sick. She had suffered persistent stomach problems from the late 1990s. She never really sought treatment. She remained a mystic figure, disturbed but also studious and convicted. I remember her, dressed all in white, moving around downtown Nairobi, a mysterious woman, lugging a bag that contained the religious books she hawked.

My mother had been admitted in hospital for a week, I went to see her on November 20,2000. She was so happy to see me. We spoke and she asked where I had been. While I was away, the doctors had recommended a biopsy to be done and she was expecting the results. When the visiting hours ended, I was ushered out by the nurses. However, I did not go home, I stayed around the hospital and waited for evening visiting hours. I saw her again in the evening."

"The next day when i went back I did not find her in her bed. I thought they had taken her for more tests but that was not the case. A woman told me “huyu mama alikufa asubuhi”. She had died early in the morning. She rested. She was tired and she had waited for me to come back to say goodbye.

My other relatives showed up for the visit and we were taken to the room where her body had been kept before being moved to the mortuary. My auntie made me touch her face. She was still warm. I stood there, staring at her face, and I thought my life was truly over. Mother died at 48."