By Cyrus Omosa
They left Mombasa with prayers on their lips and hope in their hearts.
They were heading to Subukia for a pilgrimage, expecting to return with memories of a day spent in prayer.
Instead, 17 members of St Mathias Mulumba Catholic Parish in Mikindani returned home in coffins after a horrific road crash along the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway.
The bodies of the pilgrims arrived in Mombasa on Monday, days after the crash at Mlima Kiu near Salama, Makueni County, turned their journey of faith into a devastating tragedy.
Their return marked one of the darkest moments for the Mikindani Catholic community, with families, friends and fellow worshippers forced to confront the painful reality of losing their loved ones.
The pilgrims had travelled to Subukia for the annual National Prayer Day when the Toyota Hiace van they were travelling in was involved in a multi-vehicle collision.
All 17 occupants of the van died.
Among the victims were mothers, fathers, friends, church workers and familiar faces who had been part of the daily life of the parish.
For some, the journey had carried special meaning.
Parish priest Father Patrick Maingi recalled the excitement of some of the pilgrims before they left Mombasa.
One of them was Sarapia Mwarimbo, a Taita woman who had rarely travelled far from home and was particularly excited about visiting Nakuru.
“She used to say she had never been past Voi. She was born and raised in Taita and married in Taita. She really wanted to travel to Nakuru,” Maingi said.
But perhaps the most painful story was that of Veronica Ngandi, who had been preparing to get married.
She had already introduced her fiancé to her family, with part of the dowry paid.
“She told me, Fr, I’m going to Subukia, and when I come back, I would come to you with my partner. She has left without doing that,” the priest said.
Scholastica Ochieng was another committed parishioner whose life was cut short.
Maingi described her as a disciplined member of the church who faithfully gave her monthly tithe.
Even before the journey, the pilgrims insisted on fulfilling their religious obligations.
“She would give her tithe very religiously. Before they travelled, they said they would not want to travel without giving their tithe. They gave and asked me to pray for them on Sunday,” he said.
That Sunday, however, the church was not preparing to welcome them back.
It was mourning them.
Florence Atieno had even prepared a headscarf for women who were expected to serve in church that Sunday.
Instead, her fellow worshippers gathered to pray for her soul.
“I believe they are all in heaven,” Maingi said.
The painful process of bringing the pilgrims home began after postmortem examinations were completed at Sultan Hamud Sub-County Hospital.
Families gathered at the mortuary as the identities of their loved ones were confirmed and arrangements made for their final journey. Medical examinations found that the victims had suffered multiple soft-tissue injuries, bone fractures and severe head and spinal injuries.
The tragedy has drawn an outpouring of support from church and political leaders.
Mombasa Governor Abdullswamad Nassir pledged that the county would meet expenses arising from the tragedy and urged the bereaved families not to worry about the financial burden.
“Your pain is my pain, your tears my tears. Losing 17 members from this church is not easy,” Nassir said.
Jomvu MP Badi Twalib also said President William Ruto had personally contacted him and pledged support for the 17 bereaved families.
As the bodies arrived in Mombasa, the pain of the tragedy became even more real.
The church that had sent its faithful on a journey of prayer was now preparing to give them their final farewell.
For the families, the hardest journey was only beginning — the journey of learning to live without mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, friends and loved ones who left home expecting to return.
They will instead be laid to rest, their pilgrimage ending not at Subukia as planned, but in cemeteries across the country.
The National Transport and Safety Authority is investigating the circumstances of the crash.
The section of the Nairobi-Mombasa Highway where the accident occurred has previously been identified as a black spot.
For the Mikindani faithful, however, the questions surrounding the crash will come later.
For now, there is only grief.
Seventeen journeys of faith have ended in tragedy.
And a community that expected to welcome pilgrims home is instead preparing to bury them.
