Tears rolled freely at Mung’ala village in Kilome, Makueni County on Saturday during the funeral service and burial ceremony of the late Mariam Kighenda and her daughter Amanda Mutheu.
Kighenda 35, and four-year-old Amanda died after their car slipped out of the ferry and into the deep waters of the Indian Ocean at the Likoni ferry channel in Mombasa, on September 29.
Rose Gituku, Amanda’s grandmother was overcome with emotions during the service terming her fallen granddaughter as the joy of the family.
“I will always miss you,” she said in a short statement read on her behalf by a relative.
Kighenda and Amanda’s bodies were retrieved from the Indian Ocean on Friday October 11, following efforts from South African divers working closely with the Kenya Navy officials.
The burial was attended by a host of political leaders, among them Wiper Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka, Makueni Governor Professor Kivutha Kibwana, his deputy Adelina Mwau, Makueni Senator Mutula Kilonzo Junior and Makueni Member of Parliament Dan Maanzo.
The leaders united in calling for the government to set aside funds for maintaining Likoni channel ferries in order to avert such an accident in the future.
Mariam leaves behind her husband John Wambua and a son.