Man ‘sent to resurrect’ Joseph Nkaissery interrupts service

Security officers tussle with a man who claimed to have been sent by the Holy Spirit to pray for the resurrection of Maj Gen Nkaissery on July 15, 2017. PHOTO | RAPHAEL NJOROGE | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The man pounced when Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Samson Mwathethe, had just started addressing the mourners, forcing him to momentarily cut short his speech.
  • Security officers quickly apprehended the man and frogmarched him from the main tent before interrogating him.

There was a major security breach during the burial of Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery on Saturday when a man jumped onto the podium claiming he had been sent by the holy spirit to pray for the deceased to rise from the dead.

The man pounced when Chief of Defence Forces, Gen Samson Mwathethe, had just started addressing the mourners, forcing him to momentarily cut short his speech.

Security officers quickly apprehended the man and frogmarched him from the main tent before interrogating him.

FORCES OF DEATH

He claimed to have been sent by God to come and pray for the late Nkaissery to be raised from the dead.

“The spirit of the Lord sent me here, to come and fight the forces of death,” said the man who gave his name as Anthony Njuguna.

“If you allow me to go back there and pray for Gen Nkaissery; if he does not resurrect, feel free to kill me.”

The VIP security wondered how the man, dressed in a black suit, white shirt and black tie, breached the tight security at the funeral and got to where the casket was placed.

SEND ANGELS

“I told God that I would be coming to this place and asked Him to send his angels so that they could protect me until I reached where the casket was,” he told the security officers.

The guards were clearly at a loss as to how the man gained access to the podium, when some VIPs were being denied access to the tent.

One of those who did not find space into the tent was Jubilee Party Secretary General Raphael Tuju, who sat patiently in the sun until someone found him space inside the tent.

Some journalists were also denied entry into the tent, and could only follow proceedings from outside.

WHISKED AWAY

Before Mr Njuguna disrupted proceedings, there was another brief moment of drama when President Kenyatta briefly stepped out of the tent reserved for the VIPs.

Just as he was getting out, a young man from the other side of the barrier desperately tried to attract the President’s attention; waving a piece of paper at him.

He was swiftly whisked away by security officials.

The young man later told Nation that he wanted the Head of State to give him a job as a driver.

MOURNERS

“When the President came to Kajiado on July 5, I tried to reach out to him,” said the 35-year-old man who gave his name as George Kinyaga. “His security detail took my number but I have not yet received a call from the President. That is why I came here today to jog his memory.”

Apart from those two incidents, the ceremony went on rather smoothly; the late CS’s home in Ilbisil was teeming with thousands of mourners who braced the scorching sun to give the late General a fitting send off.

The space between the Namanga Road and Mr Nkaissery’s homestead, about 200 meters away, was turned into one huge car park.

MILITARY POLICE

Traffic was directed by military police.

Further afield, we counted 12 helicopters that had ferried VIP mourners, including the one that brought President Kenyatta.

At the car park, some business savvy photographers were doing brisk business taking photos using improvised studios.

Clients were being charged Sh50 to pose for a photo with the background of President Kenyatta on one side and his Deputy William Ruto on the other.

Other “studios” featured the late Nkaissery, with his head photoshopped on the body of a man sitting on a stool.