The visionary founder of Nairobi Institute of Business Studies (NIBS) Technical College, Madam Lizzie Muthoni Wanyoike was laid to rest on Tuesday, January 23, 2024, at her late ex-husband’s residence in Gatanga, Murang’a.
The prolific entrepreneur, who made substantial investments in the education sector, real estate, and land, succumbed to Cancer on Sunday, January 14.
Madam Lizzie, previously married to the late former Gatanga Member of Parliament, Mr Mburu Wanyoike, fond final resting place at his home.
Apart from serving as Gatanga MP from 1992 to 1997, her ex-husband, Mr Mburu Wanyoike, who also passed away in 2018, worked as the Director of the Kenya Cooperative Creameries (KCC).
The couple’s journey began in 1972, and after 25 years together, they chose separate paths. However, Madam Lizzie continued to use the Wanyoike name.
Details reveal that it is this commitment that led to her resting place at her ex-husband’s residence, a choice steeped in cultural traditions.
At the time of their separation in 1997, her dowry had been paid, and customary practices fulfilled. In the eyes of the Kikuyu culture, she remained Wanyoike’s wife, despite never remarrying.
Mr Wanyoike was the father of their three children, namely Wanyoike Mburu, Stella Wanjiru, and Eric Kariuki.
During a funeral service that was held in Gatanga, the three children of the late Lizzie Muthoni Wanyoike received a stern warning from clergy members against battling for the billions left behind by their deceased mother.
The clergy, led by Bishop Julius Njuguna of the Thika Diocese and his counterpart Joel Waweru of Nairobi, cautioned that they would closely monitor how the inheritance would be handled.
The Anglican Church ministers expressed their dismay at the current trend of children engaging in property disputes left by their parents, stating, “What we witness in the country, with children fighting over their parents’ property, is disheartening.”
In his sermon, Bishop Waweru warned the children, stating, “If you begin to fight over that property, you will be shedding the sweat of your late mother to lawyers who will mercilessly drain your income under the pretext of representing you in court.”
Apart from the Nairobi Institute of Technology and Business Studies, the late Mrs. Wanyoike was also the owner of the Emory Restaurant in Kileleshwa, Nairobi. Her other investments included primary and secondary schools, the stock market, the Lizzie Wanyoike Foundation, and the real estate sector.
Bishop Waweru advised the children to uphold their mother’s values, emphasizing that she had a generous heart, helping the less fortunate and supporting numerous individuals through her professional expertise.
