On Monday, October, 13, the nation woke up to the news of two deaths, one at State House Nairobi, and another at a Meru Catholic convent.
Sister Anselimina Karimi, 65, a children’s home administrator, was discovered dead in her residence on Sunday, with police arresting a colleague nun in connection with the incident.
The news spread along that of GSU officer Ramadhan Matanka, 30, reportedly shot with an arrow while guarding one of the gates to State House Nairobi.
The deaths, occurring at highly regarded grounds, one within the President’s palace precincts, and the other in a tranquil place preserved for people serving God, sent shock waves across the secular and religious circles.
Could ‘the guards’ of the physical and the spiritual wellbeing be that much vulnerable?
The two incidents should trigger a media revisit on people working from hallowed places, coveted publicly, incidentally for reasons that even workers themselves cannot fathom.
The life experiences of those currently serving in such places could be fodder for human interest stories, and on a more serious scale, journalists should focus on their safety and security.
Do they have fears of their own, and if they do, how do they cope or share their concerns?
The Nation newspaper wrote on October 15, 2025, that investigators into Matanka’s death that disclosed he met Kithuka Kimunyi, his suspected killer, while serving in the Green Army at the State House Nairobi.
“The two are believed to have forged a strong friendship that may be construed as unusual, since Kimunyi was twice Matanka’s age,” the Nation reported in the story titled, ‘GSU officer, suspect forged friendship in State House Nairobi, then murder.’
Investigators blamed laxity by fellow GSU officers, following the CCTV footage showing an almost 20-minute conversation between the slain officer and the suspect, and colleagues walking away leaving the two before the tragedy happened.
In The Standard story, ‘Nun arrested in connection with murder of fellow Sister at Meru Catholic,’ the paper wrote on October 13 that Sr Karimi might have been killed elsewhere before her body was moved to the convent house.
Journalists should find out how religious groups are addressing work-related pressure, and personal relationships, after a video went viral recently showing a nun attacking a colleague during an altercation.
KTN on its Facebook page on September 10, 2025, reported that the leadership of the Franciscan Sisters of Saint Joseph in Homa Bay County had apologised to the public after the video sparked public outrage.
Considering that human beings have own shortcomings and bound to disagree at some point, media should investigate if mechanisms for dispute resolution in such places exist, and whether they can effectively resolve worker related issues, promptly, before they escalate into life threatening accounts.
Equally, issues of mental illness should be given more attention, as they could be triggers of conflict, sometimes unknowingly.
Media as a driver of social agendas should interview top clerics and police bosses, as decision makers, on staff security.
