Death stops couple’s grand Valentine’s plan

He planned to surprise his wife with a car to celebrate Valentine’s Day.

But both died in an accident on Wednesday morning, cutting short a union that relatives described as blissful.

Mr Alex Mbijjiwe, 35, had arrived back home early this week from Congo, where he works as an engineer, with big plans for yesterday’s lovers’ day.

According to his relatives, the father of three had planned to surprise his wife, Mrs Gakii Mbijjiwe, with a car as a Valentine’s gift.

And so when he arrived in Nairobi from his base in Kinshasa, where he worked as a hydraulic expert with Atlas Copco International, he took his wife to Mombasa, where they received the car which he had ordered for her from Japan.

DIED ON THE SPOT

Unfortunately, fate did not allow Mrs Mbijjiwe, 34, to formally receive her special gift after she and her husband were involved in a fatal accident near Machakos along the Mombasa-Nairobi highway as they drove back to the city.

She died on the spot while her husband succumbed to the injuries hours later in hospital.

Family members and other relatives were still streaming to the couple’s home in Imara Daima yesterday when the Saturday Nation visited the home.

His elder brother, who refused to reveal his name, said the family could not talk to the media about the tragedy until they consulted their in-laws.

“He was just another angel on earth and his death is a confirmation that angels are not supposed to be with us. He was just so good,” said Mr Mbijjiwe’s sister in-law, Grace Mutuiri.

The couple had three children, boys aged seven and four.