Bob Collymore’s home heavily guarded as wife asks for privacy

Surrounded by the quiet of majestic trees and neat natural fences buttressed by thick, grey concrete walls, the late Bob Collymore’s wife Wambui Kamiru and the rest of the family mourned his death at Nairobi's upmarket  Kitusuru.

The compound was heavily guarded by private security people, regular police, and non-uniformed security officials from Safaricom. This, to minimise intrusion into grief and privacy.

This morning, the security team vetted visitors before permitting them through a barricade. The usually calm neighourhood experienced a flurry of activity as a fleet of cars, many of which were occupied by Safaricom personnel kept on driving in and out the Collymores compound.

 “The wife has asked for privacy,” the officials told Standard reporters, directing them to the Safaricom Headquarters along Waiyaki Way for a statement.

 “The family will reach out to the media when they are ready to speak,” the official added.

The security officials also forbade the media from taking photographs or hanging around the residence.

“He was a very private man. He wouldn’t want the whole world to know where he lived,” a Safaricom staff member told The Standard.

According to another official, who also spoke anonymously, Collymore’s body was taken to the Lee Funeral Home in the early hours of the morning, nearly an hour before Safaricom announced his demise to the public.