Mama Esther Mwenda, wife of the late freedom fighter Ronald Ngala has passed on.
According to her family, Mwenda, 90 died on Sunday, April 26 at around 7pm at the Mombasa Hospital, where she had been admitted for nine days.
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In early April, she was admitted to the same hospital and discharged after one week. She was however readmitted on April 17 and taken to the High Dependency Unit two days later when she developed difficulty breathing
Confirming Mwenda’s death, Mombasa Governor Ali Hassan commemorated her as a strong pillar in the empowerment of women in the Coastal region.
“It is with great sorrow that I have received the news of the passing on of our mother Mama Esther Ngala. Mama Esther was the widow of the late Hon. Mzee Ronald Ngala who was the father of the quest for “Majimbo” in post independent Kenya. She was a pillar in the empowerment of women in the coastal region and held high the torch of education for years. She will be sorely missed by many.I pass my condolences to the entire family led by Hon. Katana Ngala and to the entire coastal family. May her soul rest in peace,” he wrote.
According to reports, the deceased will be buried on Saturday, May 2, 2020, at Vishakani, Kaloleni next to her husband’s mausoleum.
She is survived by 10 children, 45 grandchildren and 22 great grandchildren. She had 17 children, seven of whom have died.
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Her husband Ronald Ngala passed on in 1972 following injuries inflicted after a road accident.
Ngala was a KADU stalwart alongside late president Daniel Moi, Masinde Muliro among other leaders who later joined the ruling KANU.
KADU dissolved itself voluntarily in 1964 and joined KANU after a strong lobbying by Tom Mboya and founding father Jomo Kenyatta.
Ngala and other KADU leaders had expressed worry that the small tribes would sink into oblivion once the KANU government which drew its support from the majority Kikuyu and Luo communities.
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