A prominent businessman, politician and the founder of Patiala Distillers, Francis Kiambi alias Matanka, is dead.
According to police reports, Matanka’s death was reported by his wife, Mary Waigwe, who said that they returned home from an entertainment joint at around midnight in good health.
The duo was reportedly engaged in an altercation after arriving home over what the wife termed as her failure to be her guarantor in Ksh. 2 billion loan.
They both headed to sleep in different rooms, but Matanka did not wake up early until her wife checked him at around 9 AM only to find his lifeless body on his bed with vomit beside him.
“They each spent the night in different rooms and the deceased never woke up since then, but could be heard snoring throughout the day and night and had vomited in his bedroom. It was until today at around 0600hrs when she went to check on the deceased and she found him lying dead on his bed with some vomits beside the bed,” read part of the police report.
The businessman, who doubles as a politician, was a Tharaka Nithi senatorial aspirant in the 2017 general elections that saw him lose to the current Interior Cabinet Secretary, Prof. Kithure Kindiki.
Tharaka Nithi County residents received the news of his death with great shock, with those who worked closely with Matanka terming him a mentor and a revolutionary entrepreneur.
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Prof. Kindiki mourned Matanka as a business leader whose good deeds shall forever remain in people’s hearts, saying Tharaka Nithi County had lost a hero.
“I have learnt with deep sorrow and profound sadness of the untimely death of My friend, our son Francis Kiambi Kiriiro Matanka… We will forever remember Matanka as an astute business leader whose acumen saw him establish one of the largest manufacturing industries in Kenya, employing hundreds of people directly and impacting thousands of lives,” said Kindiki.
“We are poorer as a people without this brave and selfless leader. Matanka’s leadership, towering personality and generosity will be missed by many, particularly the Tharaka community, among whom he had made life-changing and impactful investments.”
Tharaka Nithi Governor Muthomi Njuki heaped praise on the deceased, terming him as an outgoing and hardworking person whose charm would never go unnoticed.
“What a beautiful soul he was! He was an asset to our County and Country at large. He was such a progressive person, spending a few minutes with Francis would leave you so motivated and wanting to work harder,” said Njuki.
Tharaka Member of Parliament and Chair of the Justice and Legal Affairs committee George Gitonga described Matanka as a mentor to many, whose shoes in the entrepreneurial sphere will be hard to fill.
“The sad news has permeated our hearts reluctantly that we have lost a true leader, icon, entrepreneur and role model to us all. Hon. Francis Matanka was my bosom friend, a compatriot and a businessman per excellence.” said the MP.
“The loss we have suffered today is untold, unbearable and immeasurable. The dark cloud has hovered over us today to bring us sorrow. We grieve and mourn the departed hero,”
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Matanka escaped death by a whisker in 2017 after being involved in a motorcycle accident at Chuka Town during former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s campaign tour of the county on the eve of the year’s general elections.
He was being rushed by a motorbike to board his private chopper at Chuka Boys’ High School after the conclusion of Kenyatta’s campaign rally as a way of avoiding the traffic congestion that had built up at Chuka Town.
Matanka’s Patiala Distillers is the maker of Kenya’s signature can-beer, Faxe. Other brands of the company include Diamond Ice, Genius Special Vodka and Blue Ice, among others.
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