Tycoon Tob Cohen finally laid to rest under tight security
Slain city tycoon Tob Cohen was on Tuesday afternoon finally buried based on the Jewish cultural practices at the Jewish Community Cemetery on Wangari Maathai Road in Nairobi.
At exactly 5.00 pm his body was lowered to the ground as his estranged wife Sarah Wairimu, family members and friends watched closely.
However the final speeches were concluded , only the Jewish procession was allowed to proceed to the graveside.
Cohen had, in his will, instructed to be buried in accordance with the Jewish culture and even went ahead to choose a spot where he preferred to be laid to rest.
The funeral was initially slated to take place on Monday but was pushed to Tuesday after they failed to raise the required number of priests required to conduct the final rites.
Only eight priests, instead of the required 10, were available for the burial of the Dutch tycoon.
According to the Jewish customs, the final rites for a man of Cohen’s statute are supposed to be conducted by 10 priests and one Rabbi.
For today’s funeral ceremony a priest had to travel from Kisumu and another from Mombasa to raise the quorum.
Among notable personalities present at the burial included President Uhuru Kenyatta’s cousin, Ngengi Muigai, Captain Kung’u Muigai, a representative from the Embassy of the Netherlands, former government spokesperson Muthui Kariuki, Cohen family lawyers Cliff Ombeta and Danstan Omari as well as Wairimu’s lawyer Philip Murgor.
There was heavy police presence at the venue partly because Cohen’s widow, Wairimu, was released from remand at Lang’ata Women’s Prison to attend the burial and also due to the bad blood between her side and Cohen’s kin.
On Monday High Court Judge Stella Mutuku ordered that she be escorted to the Jewish Cemetery to attend the funeral following an application she filed in court, where she faces a charge over Cohen’s murder.
Cohen did not leave any property or cash for his widow in his will read in her absence by lawyer Chege Kirundi at his chambers on Friday, with her lawyers vowing to contest the will in court claiming it had been tampered with.
The dead billionaire was reported missing between July 19 and 20, 2019 only for his body to be found in a septic tank at his home in Kitisuru on September 13, 2019 by detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI).