Mourners throng burial of popular Kikuyu musician John De Mathew

Fans of the late John De Mathew, a renowned Kikuyu Benga musician, on Saturday thronged the burial grounds to pay their last respects.

De Mathew died on Sunday night in a grisly road accident near Blue Post Hotel in Thika.

Also Read: Uhuru, Ruto mourn John De Mathew

The musician was driving alone when the accident occurred and he was pronounced dead after being rushed to Thika Nursing Home.

He is mostly remembered for his famous hit song My Dear Nduku.

On Saturday, hundreds of mourners arrived at Githambia Primary School in Murang’a for the burial.

Among those present were President Uhuru Kenyatta, Cabinet Secretaries Joe Mucheru (ICT), Mwangi Kiunjuri (Agriculture) and James Macharia (Transport); former Jubilee vice chairman David Murathe, former Gatanga MP Peter Kenneth, among others.

Earlier on Saturday morning, former Kiambu Governor William Kabogo had a hard time trying to control crowds that had gathered at the Kenyatta University mortuary to view the body.

The mourners had arrived as early as 6am and pushed and shoved at the gate to get a glimpse of their fallen entertainer.

A video emerged of Mr. Kabogo atop the mortuary gate urging mourners to calm down and assuring them that they would all get a chance to pay their last respects.

It took almost 30 minutes to get them to line up in an orderly fashion and begin to view the body.

Two hours later, the body was moved from the mortuary to Githambia Primary School in Murang’a for the burial ceremony.