Prominent Tharaka Nithi businessman Francis Kiambi Kiriiro has been found dead at his home in Karen, where he had family differences with his wife. Matanka died in his bed, according to a report taken by his wife Mary Waingwe Muthoni at Karen police station, where she found the body around 6am on Monday.
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She reported some discrepancies across the country, and they slept in separate bedrooms that night. Ms Muthoni told police they met her late husband, his relatives and a family lawyer at the Big Smoke bar and restaurant in Karen Mall on Saturday, where they also had a drink.
She said she had a disagreement with her husband because she refused to guarantee him a Sh2 billion start-up loan.
She said they arrived home ten minutes after midnight on Sunday and Mr Kiambi could be heard snoring throughout Sunday night before he was found dead on Monday. She said she called a doctor at Cullen Hospital who confirmed he had died around 9 a.m. and that police visited the scene to assess the body before it was sent to Lee Funeral Home to await an autopsy. The 50-year-old businessman and politician is a philanthropist, and although he lives in Nairobi, he responds to calls from rich and poor andnever misses a community event
Matanka is known to have improved the economy of the Tharaka community by introducing watermelon and gadam millet cultivation through the introduction of cultivation of watermelon and gadam millet which brought a lot of money to the locals as many paid school fees for this and the children could pay for it, many from The thatched huts were removed and houses with iron roofs were built.
Many locals call it Matanka, the local dialect name for a watermelon, and over time it became a household name. He legally adopted the name when he entered politics in 2007.
The deceased had run for the Tharaka MP seat in 2007 but lost to Mburi Muiru. He also lost in a 2017 contest for the Senate seat against Interior Minister and National Government Coordinating Minister Kithure Kindiki.
Matanka did not run for his seat in the recent election and has stayed out of politics as he focuses on growing his business. The deceased raised many children from poor families from elementary school to university.
While Matanka insists that the Tharaka community must be educated, she always says that the uneducated community is the slave of the adjacent educated community. He has built a number of public schools in the Tharaka community, including participating in a fundraiser for the construction of the first Tharaka University building.
Every December, Matanka invites its residents to a feast where traditional dancers perform for them for several days. Out of love for the community, veteran singer Newton Karish from neighboring Embu County penned a song describing Matanka as a selfless leader. News of his death has rocked the community, with social media platforms flooded with sad news from across the county and across the country.
