Fridah Warau Kamuyu: Renowned Thika Woman Who Drowned In Juja Dam

22-year-old Fridah Warau Kamuyu from Mathioya, Murang’a County, who drowned in a dam at Titanic area in Juja, Kiambu County alongside 39-year-old Kiambu businessman, Tirus Maina on Tuesday evening, January 17 was a well-known figure in Thika Town.

Viral Tea conducted spot checks on her social media accounts and stumbled upon a Facebook account with her name Fridah Kamuyu. Her last post on that account was on July 27, 2022, when she was celebrating her birthday at the time.

"Today is my birthday, and my heart is full of nothing but gratitude. I pray that the lord will grant me more special days like this to praise his name," she captioned at the time. Since then, Facebook users flooded the comments section, reacting to the post over 400 times and leaving 936 comments mostly with condolences.

It goes on to further describe that she studied at Butere Girls High School before proceeding to Mt Kenya University for her college education.

Collage of Fridah Warau Kamuyu who drowned in Juja Dam alongside 39-year-old Tirus Maina on January 17, 2023. /FILE

She was seen in an Instagram post on November 5, 2022, donning her graduation gown and captioning "It always seems impossible until it's done". She was not in a relationship, and she appeared to live a happy life.

Kamuyu was residing in Thika town where she had been studying for the past four years up until her graduation. At the time of her death, she was actively seeking employment and decided to stay in the town even though she was from Murang'a County.

According to reports, she joined Butere Girls High School after she posted exemplary results in her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE). There, she also excelled.

From the photos she shared, she was less photogenic but always smart. However, she was active on TikTok.

Her body had been lying in Nairobi City Mortuary marked as unclaimed since January 18 when the incident occurred. The family of the deceased appeared at the mortuary and managed to identify the body as their kin, eight days since the incident occurred.

A family friend privy to the matter disclosed that when Kamuyu went silent, her kin was left wondering what might have happened to her. This prompted a search for her and a subsequent report to the police.

Her sister, Mary Kamuyu, wrote “Rest easy, sister,” as her caption of a video she posted of her sister donned in a graduation gown and carrying her certificate on Tiktok. Kamuyu had also pleaded with the government to facilitate her transport from Saudi Arabia, where she works, to Kenya to bury her sister.

"When death strikes in a family, it becomes so painful. I'm currently in Saudi Arabia without any means of returning home to give my sister the last respect," Mary pleaded, warning that she could fail to return home to honour the life of her sister should the appeal fail.

She appreciated her friends on social media for helping to share her video while urging the Government of President William Ruto and local leaders to help her secure means of safely travelling to her home in Mathioya, to her family.

One of her friends living in Zambia was in disbelief that Kamuyu drowned to her death in the dam, describing her as a good swimmer

"It's hard to believe you're gone...all my trips to Nairobi we could go fishing and swimming together. It's hard to believe you drowned in unclear circumstances in a small dam," said Mable Mwando Mwelwa on her Facebook page on Thursday, January 26.

"I was looking forward to meeting you next week I'm shattered my girl," she added.

Police earlier revealed that an autopsy conducted on the body of Kamuyu revealed that she died as a result of drowning and had bruises on her left arm.

Maina was reported to have been in his car with Fridah on the sidelines of Juja Dam on the day of the tragedy.

The two plunged into the dam, but Fridah who was said to have attempted to save herself was retrieved from the waters in the same evening. The man and the car were retrieved the following morning.

The dam they were discovered at is a popular spot for locals and revellers who enjoy outdoor activities. However, tragedy struck at 7 pm on January 17 when their car, a Nissan X-Trail plunged in unclear circumstances and was retrieved when it was still in drive mode, complicating the investigations.

Maina was laid to rest on January 26, 2023, at his family home in Nyeri while Kamuyu’s family is yet to announce funeral arrangements after the identification of their kin. 

A eulogy of Maina seen by Viral Tea described his family life including his parents and siblings as well as his education, minus his academic qualifications and scanty details of his career as an engineer in 2006 with various companies both locally and internationally until his untimely death, all in just three paragraphs.

A eulogy of Tirus Maina who was laid to rest on January 26, 2023. /FILE