Abduction robbed village of ‘a mother’

An undated photograph shows Marie Dedieu, a 66-year-old Frenchwoman who was abducted from her beachfront house on Manda Island in the Lamu archipelago on October 1, 2011.

What you need to know:

  • Residents received news of her death with shock after days of sorrow following her abduction

An accident in Paris many years back permanently confined Marie Dedieu Manrd to a wheelchair.

It also set in motion a series of other health complications that made her stay in wintry Europe unbearable.

And so it came to pass that, when she visited Lamu as a tourist about 10 years ago and sampled the warmth of the African sun and sand, Ms Dedieu was hooked and resolved to make Ras Kitau in Lamu her home.

Seven years ago, she approached a landowner to rent a beach plot to put up her cottage.

“She requested that I offer her the land to put up a cottage. We entered into an agreement and I leased the plot to her,” the businessman, Mr Abdallah Fadhil told the Nation on Wednesday.

Cheerful and outgoing, it did not take Marie long to establish a rapport with Ras Kitau villagers. She would be invited to attend almost all social events organised by the residents, which she attended in spite of being wheelchair-bound.

It was, therefore, with shock that the residents of the little known village, learnt of her abduction on October 1.

News of her death yesterday only piled on the sorrow among villagers still unable to comprehend the rapid turn of events.

“She was a very nice lady. Despite her condition, she could still afford a smile. We could not imagine the extent of her suffering until she died. We lost a mother,” Mr Fadhil said.

When contacted, her partner John Lepapa ole Moiyio confirmed having been notified about Ms Dedieu’s death.

Mr Moiyio, 39, from Loitokitok could not, however, be drawn into discussing the sad turn of events.

“I really don’t feel like talking about the issue now. All I can say is that I have already been informed of the matter (Dedieu’s death) by the French embassy,” he said.

But in an earlier interview, a few hours after her abduction, Mr Moiyio fondly talked of his life with the French woman referring to her as “a part of his life”.

He said Ms Dedieu was once a freelance journalist but left her job after the accident in Paris.

Because of this and other health complications, she was permanently on medication.

Mr Moiyio said he was with her when the abductors struck in their cottage three days after they returned from a six-month trip to Paris.

According to Mr Moiyio, a commotion from the staff quarters at 2.30am woke him up, prompting him to call out to their cottage caretaker Ms Zainabu Anthony, to know what was going on.

“Suddenly two people burst into our room, demanding to know where Mama Mzungu (white lady) was.

“I tried to stop them from abducting Marie. But Zainabu warned me to cool down as they were armed,” Mr Moiyio said.

The noise woke up Ms Dedieu. She sat up in bed, drawing the attention of the gang and they headed for her.

Offered to give money

She unsuccessfully pleaded with the attackers not to take her away and even offered them money.

They dragged her from the bed and ordered Zainabu and her assistant Agnes Keya to carry her out to the waiting boat.

There were six gunmen. One guarded Mr Moiyio, as another covered three male staffers — a boat coxswain, a cook and a gardener — who had also been herded into the cottage.

In the ensuing drama, Mr Lepapa managed to escape.

“I don’t think I will ever get a caring and loving employer like Marie,” Zainabu said on Wednesday on phone from her home in Mukoroshoni, Kilifi, where she returned after Ms Dedieu’s abduction.