By David Musundi

A somber mood engulfed Huruma Village at Cherangany in Trans Nzoia County  when the casket carrying the body of the slain writer and renowned journalist the late Professor Ken Walibora Waliaula arrived at his home for burial.

A convoy of seven vehicles carrying the body of the late Walibora arrived at his Huruma home at 2:30 Wednesday.

The church service, led by Jehovah’s Witnesses Pioneer Ken Ngusare Lujiri, took a record 20 minutes with the church asking the government to bring the killers of the late professor to book.

The late professor’s extended family followed the Ministry of Health restrictions allowing 15 people to attend the burial.

Professor’s elder brother Patrick Lumumba  said Walibora’s  demise is not only a big blow to the family but also the entire nation.

Lumumba said the late professor Walibora was a humble, caring and loving man with deep insight on issues with discerning power of empathizing with the less fortunate.

Prof Ken Walibora was a literary giant, a consummate interrogator of society as depicted in his seminal works, an engaged public intellectual, journalist and a gentleman. 

The scholar, who died through what police claim to be a road accident, dedicated his intellectual effort towards the promotion and development of Kiswahili.

The words of Prof Nina Berman, his doctoral teacher at Ohio State university are particularly profound.

 “Kennedy Waliaula, was gentle and soft-spoken, but also firm in his convictions and passionate about the things he cared about, such as raising the status of Kiswahili in Kenya and advocating for free speech,” she wrote in a tribute.