It’s almost five years since the death of Peter Kaberere, after he was electrocuted at his car wash but God has been gracious to his wife Njeri and kids.
Speaking during an exclusive interview with Classic 105, Njeri Kaberere says that her son Ula is a constant reminder of her late husband Kaberere, but in a good way.
Njeri, who works with MoSound says that balancing parenting and her job is not easy but is worth every sweat and tear. It also helps that she has a strong support system in her family and her in-laws who are always at hand to help out.
“Apart from work there there are so many things I do.
I make sure that if I am not home in the evening I have to wake up very early to talk to them and pray with them, go though their homework.
On Saturday when I do not have any events, I shower them, we sometimes go to hang out with my mum in law. However I spend all my Sundays with them.
When I do not have events in the evening I spend my time with them. It’s not easy though because sometimes I am so tired.”
She adds
“My son Ula is a sharp boy, so he keeps reminding me of things I was supposed to do with them or things I am supposed to do for myself.
He knows everything that happened (his fathers death) and he really supports me.
Ulah also reminds me of his dad given that he is a copyright of his dad, his character and all.
He is also very talkative and our home is not quiet because of him. On the other hand my daughter Njoki is very girlish.”
“They do not have any gadgets at all except for a Ipad and they do not have it every day. Ula knows between right and wrong.
Even when a gospel artiste release a ‘bad’ music video my son will point it out. Even when they see me do something they consider wrong Ula is never shy to point it out to me.
But I thank God because so far they know how to differentiate between right and wrong.”
Speaking during an interview on how she deals with loss, Njeri says
“I have found ways of coping with grief that are positive. I let my body go through such emotions as crying and feeling sad. I talk about what I feel and express myself. I try not to numb my pain but release it eventually.
Reading does help one to cope with grief. I read books that help me. I love reading books about heaven and I find courage in the knowledge that my husband is with God. I also rest well and do the things I love.”
Given that her kids are also in mourning, she includes them in the healing process.
“I do a lot of writing and journaling, which helps, besides celebrating what her husband was when alive. She talks it out with her kids as they jam to his songs,once in a while, we visit the grave and pray together,”
TV presenter Isabella Kiturui lost her spouse after battling colon cancer when she was only 25-years-old with a three-month-old baby boy.
She says:
“I mourned for eight years between 2005 and 2013. It was a shock, like a never-ending nightmare. I had been married for just one year.”
The TV girl revealed how her pastor, counseled her asking her to move on and she did so though it took a while.
From that day, Isabella Kituri decided to try and forget what had happened and she said:
“I decided to remove my wedding band seven years later after a talk with my pastor who encouraged me to move on.”
Adding that:
“I had a meeting with myself. I had to stop behaving as if the world owed me for the loss and pain I suffered. I began to train myself to see the world as a stage of opportunities. I stopped feeling that people around me should give me their shoulder.”
Instead, I started sharing my experience, empowering others in similar situations. I became more useful to the universe,” she says. “I called myself ‘Blessed Bella’ as a mantra to remind me I can be happy again.”
Although she is not in a relationship, she goes out for ‘coffee’ a lot and here is her greatest lesson from her journey as a widow
“Be gentle with yourself, be happy with your space and seek peace from within yourself, never from others.”
3. Ahmed Darwesh
The late Ahmed Darwesh passed away after he died of diabetes related complications at the Mater Hospital.
Speaking about her loss Darwesh’s widow, Hawa Hussein Jamadar says:
“We talked for 30 minutes and he said: My love, take good care of my children. I reprimanded him: What else did you expect? I am always here for them.”
The late Ahmed Darwesh with his wife
She adds:
“Darwesh requested in a voice that made me feel like crying but I just brushed it off: “Nisamehe mke wangu (I apologise my wife),” he said. That was it. He never talked to anyone else that day as per the call logs on his phone.”
Dealing with the death of a loved one is never easy. It is a wound that never heals and a void that can never be filled no matter how much time passes.
Losing a child or a parent is even worse given that children and parents create a connection immediately after conception thus severing those ties is almost impossible.
Norman Cousin once said ” Death is not the greatest losing life, the greatest loss is what dies inside us while we live.”
On April 2014, the gospel fraternity lost a talented artiste Peter Kabere after he was electrocuted while washing his car.
At the time of his death, Kaberere’s wife Njeri was expectant with their second child and the shock of of his death is something she will never be able to put in words.
Unlike many people who let depression get the best of them, Njeri has come up with creative ways to fight her grief.
Speaking to The Nairobian she said
“I have found ways of coping with grief that are positive. I let my body go through such emotions as crying and feeling sad. I talk about what I feel and express myself. I try not to numb my pain but release it eventually.
I have found that reading does help one to cope with grief. I read books that help me. I love reading books about heaven and I find courage in the knowledge that my husband is with God. I also rest well and do the things I love.”
Given that her kids are also in mourning, she includes them in the healing process.
“I do a lot of writing and journaling, which helps, besides celebrating what her husband was when alive. She talks it out with her kids as they jam to his songs,once in a while, we visit the grave and pray together,”
TV presenter Isabella Kiturui lost her spouse after battling colon cancer when she was only 25-years-old with a three-month-old baby boy.
She says
“I mourned for eight years between 2005 and 2013. It was a shock, like a never-ending nightmare. I had been married for just one year,”
The TV girl revealed how her pastor, counseled her asking her to move on and she did so though it took a while.
From that day, Isabella Kituri decided to try and forget what had happened and she said:
“I decided to remove my wedding band seven years later after a talk with my pastor who encouraged me to move on.”
Isabella with her son
Adding that:
“I had a meeting with myself. I had to stop behaving as if the world owed me for the loss and pain I suffered. I began to train myself to see the world as a stage of opportunities. I stopped feeling that people around me should give me their shoulder.”
Instead, I started sharing my experience, empowering others in similar situations. I became more useful to the universe,” she says. “I called myself ‘Blessed Bella’ as a mantra to remind me I can be happy again.”
Although she is not in a relationship, she goes out for ‘coffee’ a lot and here is her greatest lesson from her journey as a widow
“Be gentle with yourself, be happy with your space and seek peace from within yourself, never from others.”
George Ikua lost his wife Jane Kanini in April 2017, after she lost her battle with lung cancer leaving behind two kids.
Speaking to the Nairobian about her death, George said
“Everything became surreal, it’s like she is still there, but she is gone.”
Ikua admits small blessing have helped him. He is tighter with the kids: “I guess we are a happy family,” but being a single dad and father to a daughter has created major adjustments, starting most mornings with them, dropping them off and running my biashara until 3pm when I pick them be-fore starting my life at 8pm when they sleep.”
George with his late wife Janet Kanini
George received a lot of help from his family in taking of the kids even as he made adjustments in both his social and financial life
“My sister-in-law, sister and their godmother have been nothing short of angels for my little girl. But I realize I am the primary source of love and can’t delegate that. So, I can say I am a proud mummy and do most of the things with her, you should see me in the salon!”
Ikua admits that grieving never stops as “when you lose a loved one, it never goes away. The pain just dulls with some very dark days reappearing”
As a way of mourning and keeping Janet’s memories alive, George kept some of her stuff, his plan was to also share some of it with Janet’s siblings
He said “I am still getting round to it, but I have picked a few pieces to pass to Jasmine because of their sentimental value and for the memories. The rest I will donate to her sisters and charity. Funny how when someone dies you realize it’s just stuff.” Ikua lost his wedding band before Janet died “and we never got round to replacing it.”
Music Producer Tedd Josiah had all his life planned out with his beautiful wife Regina Katar but fate had other plans for the couple.
Regina lost her life after suffering from a rare disease Thrombocytopenia that saw her blood platelet count fall below normal after childbirth.
Tedd Josiah with his daughter Jay
According to Tedd Josiah Regina’s platelets were so diluted, leading to a significantly reduced count. Sadly, all through she had an internal bleeding, which had not been detected, nor stopped, because of her low platelet count.
Speaking on her death he said
“Imagine calling someone your everything – home, safe place, your all – and watching them slowly fade away on their deathbed in less than an hour. I was left on a free fall and lost. In many ways, Regina was my anchor.
Tedd Josiah with his beautiful daughter Jay
I have to make a lot of adjustments; I am more hands-on with my baby. I have to wash her, clean, cook, feed and be always there for her,” explains Josiah. “I am lucky my office is in my home so I can spend all the time I need with her,”
Though it is hard for him to raise his daughter alone, he is thankful that the in-laws have been supportive.
He hasn’t forgotten his wife as he is still grieving and misses the good times he shared with Regina. The scar of that loss is quite obvious, proof that there is such a thing as true love.
“Losing someone you love isn’t easy, especially if it was real love. They say that love never dies, so imagine the confusion in my mind on some days. The loss in my mind. The heaviness in my heart just thinking about the fun times and wishing she’d pop out from behind the door and scream ‘boo!’ and scare me. That’s what we used to do to each other… and listening to a beautiful song and wishing I could share that with her. But she’s not here.”
Tedd Josiah with his late wife Reginah Katar
Ted says that to keep his wife’s memories alive he chose to keep all her stuff so that he can pass them over to their daughter Jay.
“I kept it all. Some precious stuff will stay with me until my daughter is old enough to inherit it all…to let my little Jay know that her mom was loved, her memory was kept safe, but so were her valuable things.”
Uganda’s female artiste Julianna Kanyomozi, lost her son Keron who had been admitted at Agha Khan hospital in Nairobi after a severe Asthmatic attack.
During an interview with The Nairobian, Juliana opened up on how she was dealing with her sons death confessing that she had at one point been angry with God, but she was taking baby steps to heal.
“I’ve been through a lot. I’ve always been extremely strong. But this was beyond it. There are things that happen to you and you cannot find the perfect vocabulary to explain them. It’s that pain that leaves you helpless and no one else but God can help!” Juliana opened up a while back.”
Juliana with her son Keron
She goes on to add
“I was very angry with God. He had just taken away the most important thing I had in life. Then again, there’s always a reason for everything single thing. He does,” she said adding that she was not really in touch with the world at that moment.”
Juliana went on to open up on how she deals with her grief given that their is no standard way of mourning when a calamity such as death strikes.
She says
“I have my bad days where I sit with a box of tissue and let the tears flow. I don’t know how long it will take me to move on. It is something that will always be a part of me. I’m only being a strong woman.
“It is all part of the healing process. I’m taking baby steps. I’m not yet there emotionally. When you’ve gone through something like this, you have to find the strength first.”
Despite being a public figure, his wife has managed to stay away from the limelight taking care of their kids now that she is playing both roles of mum and dad.
Before his untimely death, Njeri Kaberere was heavily pregnant with their second born and sadly the dad never got the chance to meet her as she was born after his burial.
Kaberere was celebrated for hits such as Kiburi, Mwanake with Benachi,Mitego among other uplifting songs.
Here are photos of the beautiful kids the late Kaberere left behind
Five days ago, the widow to the late gospel singer Kaberere paid a glowing tribute to her husband who passed away three years ago.
Njeri Kaberere moved many to tears with her heartfelt message, on April 6th recalling the darkest moment in her life.
At the time of his death, Njeri was pregnant waiting to deliver their second born child. The child, a daughter was born, a few hours after his burial in Langata.
Back in 2014, the announcement of his death shook many of his fans, friends and family.
The ‘Mwanake’ hitmaker left behind a son and beautiful wife, Njeri Kahura Kaberere, better known as Njesh Wa Qabbz, who was pregnant at that time. She gave birth to a cute baby girl, named Halia, hours after his burial.
Three years down the line, Kaberere’s daughter is all grown up. See her cute photo below.
She wrote this loving message to her cute daughter, who is now all grown up;
Three years ago hours after we laid her dad to rest, this sweet little gal came to this world and i named her baby Halia which means “In rememberance of” She is such a joy to behold..Ula and i are proud of her.I bless God for taking care of this lovely gal..She’s so special..loves to sing and pray💃🙏. .God be praised for this miracle baby..i cannot wait to see what you have in store for her..👌You’re the giver of good gifts!Blessed be your Name!
laurakirangiJust beautiful and as precious as can be ❤️
tishmutisyaWow, beautiful blessing.In everything we give thanks.Happy born day princess,.I speak blessings that adds no sorrows to your new age.I decree that you and your generation shall never lack. Wherever you go,you’ll find favour.You will shine princess coz you are a seed on greatness.A planting of distinction.Enjoy little one😍
nanette_gatwiriShe is adorable happy birthday 🎂 to you Njoki
wambojazShe is too pretty…. Happy birthday to Halia !!!!
ahadilizzMy very beautiful birthday mate…. Happy Birthday Halia….. You’re a 💎 gem…. With long life may Jehovah satisfy you. May you grow in beauty, stature and wisdom….. May nations open their doors for you. May the blessed call you blessed…..n yes may you also always be a remembrance of God’s favor and blessings over you and your family. Much much love baby girl. Many more. 🎊🎈🎈🎊🎉🎁🎊🎂🎈💝🎊🎊🎉
The entire Kenyan music industry and more so the gospel scene was shocked and taken aback by the sudden death of popular and super talented singer Peter Kaberere, back in April 6, 2014.
Kaberere was sadly electrocuted at his own car wash located near Lower Kabete, while cleaning the car washing equipment.
This was one of the saddest days for those in the Kenyan gospel industry, as Kaberere was known to be a humble and God fearing celebrity singer, who was also charitable and very talented musically.
Kaberere and his wife, Njeri
Kaberere left behind his son and beautiful wife, Njeri Kahura Kaberere, better known as Njesh Wa Qabbz, who was pregnant at that time. She gave birth to a cute baby girl, named Njeri, hours after his burial.
Two years down the line, Kaberere’s daughter is all grown up and his wife has embraced motherhood despite missing her husband, who was her pillar and joy, as she celebrated their daughters birthday.
She send this loving, heart-warming message to her late husband, with a picture of their daughter, who is now all grown up;
