By Samuel Ngala
Today we are going to talk about love, mystery and a disappearance that has haunted two families for the past thirteen years.in July 2012, Martin Karimi and Mary Mwangi set off for their honey moon in Zanzibar. They were full of excitement and dreams, but tragically they never returned till date. Their last known location was Tanzania and after that—total silence. Was it a crime, an accident or something else entirely?
Here is what really happened; Martin was a 30yrs old nurse at Aga khan university hospital in Nairobi, on the other hand Mary was a teacher at a school in wetlands Nairobi. These two fell deeply in love and after two years of dating they decided to get married on 14th July 2012 at a restaurant in Juja. their wedding was a beautiful and unique celebration. As the day Oof their wedding died down, these two beautiful soulmates looked forward to check into a local hotel where they stayed for two nights
On 16th July, they both attended a dinner at Mary’s sister home in Nairobi Kasarani. The sister said these the two newlyweds were too happy to have one another as they long waited for their 10 days honeymoon in Zanzibar. Nobody ever imagined that this could be the last time seeing the couples as just days later they would go missing. The couple had planned to move to Zanzibar by road through the Kenya- Tanzania Namanga Boarder by bus after which they will later take a ferry to their destination-Zanzibar. The couple had planned to leave Kenya for Zanzibar on 16th of July but they delayed due to the compulsory yellow fever vaccine to avoid problems at immigration offices. The situation made the couple to leave the following day on Tuesday 17th July 2012 at around 9:20a.m. when they reached Namanga they communicated to some of their family members ensuring that everything was okay. This was the last time they communicated with their family members. They boarded a Dar Express bus to take them to the city of Dar Es Salaam. The bus reached to the city 9:30p.m and some passengers confirmed that they indeed reached the city.
The following day Wednesday 18th , the couple had not contacted their families despite having promised to call when they arrive in Dar es salaam. The families as well had not contacted them, respecting their right to privacy. The story took a turn for the worse when the families heard story of a ferry capsizing on the same day in Tanzania. Mv Skagit- the ferry that drowned sailed despite the warnings from the authorities. The ferry had left Dar es salaam port for Zanzibar at around 12:05p.m with approximately 377 passengers and various types of cargo.
The ferry was old and the recommended number of passengers was only 148. The survivors who held on life jackets and others on floating debris reported that the sea was rough with strong waves. The waves overturned the ferry as it neared Chumbe island around 1:55p.m. sadly many passengers lost their lives as they remained trapped in the ferry.
Back in Kenya the families of Martin Karimi and Mary Mwangi had not heard from the newlyweds. They were so worried when they heard about the ferry accident and desperately, they worried about their whereabouts. They wondered if the couple stayed in Dar es salaam overnight or they had by any chance made it to Zanzibar. Their worse imagination was that the couple were in the in the Mv Skagit. With much fear arising they launch social media pages with hangtags #findthekarimis which really trended in twitter now X. With more fear of terror Martins’ family sent one of his brothers to Tanzania on the weekended of 20th July 2012 to search for them. He went to Zanzibar to establish whether the couple were among the bodies recovered from the sea.
The bodies recovered for the ferry’s accident were so disfigured, it was so hard for the brother to identify any of them. He also relied on the wedding rings but he could not see a dime of light. The families united, formed groups online and offline all in the efforts of finding them. They deeply prayed that the couple return home safe and sound. They also worked with police in Tanzania and the Kenyan embassy in Tanzania to amplify the search. Additionally, the displayed ads of the couple missing in Tanzania newspapers. They also filed a missing person’s report in Athi river police station in Kenya on Thursday 26th July 2012. Still with all these efforts the couple remained missing. Almost a month after the ferry accident more bodies were washed to the shores and seen in Tanga. Mary’s brother and Martin’s brother went back to Tanzania to find if the couple is among them. Regrettably they could not figure out. They thought of doing a DNA test but the bodies were so many and it would be so expensive. The question that disturbs the most was where the couple stayed on the night of 17th July 2012 and another one was weather the couple really travel in the Mv Skagit.
Sadly, the records of Mv Skagit only showed first names with other key details missing with some passengers not recorded at all. It was reported that the ship was operating illegally. Interpol investigated whether the couple had made it to Zanzibar and if something sinister had happened to them, they later concluded that the couple did not reach Zanzibar at all.
Another sad incidence hitted the family when Mary’s mother passed away two months later after the disappearance of the couple due to cardiac arrest.
It is widely believed that the couple were in the ferry and in 2020 Mary’s family petitioned the high court of Kenya in kerugoya to declare and presume her legally dead as she had not been seen or heard from in 7years. The court granted this and as of today Mary legally died on 27th February 2020. This story has haunted these two families, most of their family members having seen them lastly on their wedding day.
Still, it is not known where the two went. it is still a mystery how the two vanished without a trace. There is no evidence that the two were in the ferry or not. We pray to the family that they find peace amidst this tough situation.
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