Francis Kiambi Kiriiro, a prominent Tharaka Nithi businessman who had family issues with his wife, was discovered dead at his home in Karen. According to a report made by his wife Mary Waingwe Muthoni at the Karen police station, where she discovered the body about 6 am on Monday, Matanka died in his bed.
They slept in different bedrooms that night after she reported some inconsistencies across the nation. At the Big Smoke bar and restaurant in Karen Mall on Saturday, Ms. Muthoni said police they met her late husband, his family, and a family lawyer. They also had a drink there.
She claimed that she and her husband fell out over her refusal to back him up for a Sh2 billion start-up loan.
She claimed that they got home on Sunday ten minutes after midnight and that Mr. Kiambi snored all night long before being discovered dead on Monday. She claimed a doctor at Cullen Hospital confirmed he had passed away at 9 a.m., and police had responded to the spot to examine the body before transporting it to Lee Funeral Home to await an autopsy. The philanthropic businessman and politician, who is 50, answers calls from both the rich and the poor and never misses a community event despite the fact that he resides in Nairobi.
The Tharaka community’s economy is said to have been improved by Matanka through the introduction of watermelon and gadam millet cultivation. This brought a lot of money to the community as many paid for school fees and the kids could afford it. Many from The thatched huts were removed and houses with iron roofs were built.
The common name for a watermelon in the area is Matanka, and over time it has spread throughout the community. When he began his political career in 2007, he formally took the name.
The dead attempted to run for the Tharaka MP seat in 2007, but Mburi Muiru defeated him. Additionally, he came in second place to Interior Minister and National Government Coordinating Minister Kithure Kindiki in the 2017 race for the Senate seat.
As he concentrates on expanding his company, Matanka chose not to run for his seat in the most recent election and has stayed out of politics. Many children from low-income households were raised by the deceased from elementary school through college.
Even while Matanka is certain that the Tharaka community has to be educated, she is also known for saying that “the ignorant community is the slave of the surrounding educated community.” He participated in a fundraiser for the construction of the first Tharaka University building in addition to building a number of public schools in the Tharaka neighborhood.
Every December, Matanka welcomes its citizens to a feast during which they are entertained for several days by traditional dancers. Veteran musician Newton Karish from adjacent Embu County wrote a song praising Matanka as a selfless leader out of love for the community. His passing shocked the neighborhood, and sorrowful news from all over the county and the nation filled social media sites.
