NAIROBI –A senior Kenyan official on Wednesday succumbed to injuries sustained during an Al-Shabaab terror attack in the coastal Lamu County in July in which five other government officials were killed.
President Uhuru Kenyatta announced that Public Works Principal Secretary Mariam El-Maawy died while undergoing treatment in South Africa.
“Early in her childhood, she showed a real aptitude for study, and the diligence, which drove her to qualify as an architect at the University of Nairobi, and later to earn a Masters degree in South Africa,” Kenyatta said in his condolence message.
Security team rescued El-Maawy some 40 minutes after she and five other top government officials had been kidnapped by gunmen at Milihoi on Lamu-Mpeketoni highway, Lamu County on July 14.
El-Maawy was rescued with bullet injuries in the back, left shoulder, hand and legs together with some of the victims who had been taken hostage by gunmen believed to be Al-Shabaab member.
El Maawy, a native Bajuni from Lamu, was heading to Witu areas to visit the families that had been evicted due to increased terror attacks then in the area by Al-Shabaab militants.
The deceased’s driver was among four people including police officers who were killed in the operation. He was shot dead and the car he had burnt.
