Today in History: Story About Shamba Boy Who Killed President Kibaki’s Father

On December 17, 1983, the death of Mwai Kibaki’s father shook the country after it was established that he was brutally murdered.

President Mwai Kibaki’s father, Kibaki Githinji, died after one of his farmhands attacked him and killed him..

Githinji, who was 105 years old at the time of his death, was killed on December 17, 1983, by a shamba boy he had trusted for many years.

The motive behind the murder was not immediately clear, but it marked a deeply tragic event for both the Kibaki family and the nation.

Father of Kibaki Killed by Farmhand

Reports indicate that Jacob Maina, the farmhand, sneaked into Githinji’s house in the middle of the night and struck him with an axe, killing him instantly in Thunguri village.

Realizing the gravity of his actions, Maina fled to Kianjokoma in Embu.

Police launched a manhunt for whereabouts after he committed the act.

At the time of his father’s death, Mwai Kibaki was serving as Kenya’s Vice President under President Daniel Arap Moi.

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Maina was apprehended by police officers around December 29, 1983. He faced trial for murder and was subsequently sentenced to death (hanging).

Maina was incarcerated at Kamiti Maximum Prison for the rest of his life, but little is known about his time in prison.

Family of Man Who Killed Kibaki’s Father Appeal for Their Son to Be Pardoned

Maina had worked for the Kibaki family for many years before he killed Githinji. After Kibaki assumed power in 2002, several prisoners convicted of murder were pardoned; however, Maina was not among them.

In a past interview, his family pleaded with President Kibaki to pardon their son, though details about his conviction remained unclear since they last visited him in prison in 1986.

“Our son may have committed an unspeakable crime. He wronged you by killing your father, but please, Mr. President, you too are a parent. Give us our son back,” Maina’s mother, Bertha Wangui, pleaded at the time.

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Although the death penalty remains in the law, Kenya has not carried out any executions since 1987, when coup plotters were reportedly hanged, including Hezekiah Ochuka, who was a Senior Private in the Kenya Air Force.

Instead, those sentenced to death are often commuted to life imprisonment

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