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Tech firm Cellulant to hold memorial for six employees killed in Kenyan attack [Updated]
Nairobi based payments company Cellulant will tomorrow hold a memorial service for the six employees killed in last Tuesday’s terror attack on the DusitD2 hotel complex at 14 Riverside Drive in the city.
The company said on Saturday (19 January) that the memorial will be held, at the CITAM church, Valley Road campus on 22 January from 10.30am.
On Twitter over the weekend, the company eulogised the six that were killed in the attack, in a special tweet (see below).
A memorial service will be held on 22 January for the six Cellulant employees killed in last week’s terror attack in Nairobi
The six employees who were killed were as follows, with their respective eulogies by the company:
John Ndiritu, Quality assurance tester: He was always jovial, calm and best known for his humor. He was always willing to go the extra mile to help when called upon. “Just because it is not my job, doesn’t mean I can’t do it”, he would say.
Jeremiah Mbaria, Head of hub: Jeremiah was not just a leader, he was a brother and a mentor to many. He guided his team with humility and corrected with humour. He loved God and everyone he came across, and always challenged his team to grow.
Kelvin Gitonga, Hub engineer: Kelvin will be remembered as an intelligent and versatile engineer who worked in the hub implementation department. To him, technology would change the world. He was very passionate about his work and wanted to know everything Java script
Denis Mwaniki, Head of information security: Denis was a curious explorer, strategic thinker, a gentleman and exemplary leader. He was a calm and humble spirit. His intellect got Cellulant the coveted global ISO 27001 information security certification.
Wilfred Kareithi, Implementation engineer: Wilfred was an energetic, always happy individual who never shied away from taking on tasks — no matter how challenging. He helped unconditionally and always sought to mentor new staff members and share knowledge.
Ashford Kuria, Head of product development: Ashford was the ultimate geek. His knowledge of everything about everything was hilarious. He will be remembered best for his big smile, warm personality, his kindness, love to everyone & most importantly his tenacity.
Contacted by Ventureburn today, Cellulant spokesperson Divine Muragijimana said the company’s co-founder Ken Njoroge — who started the company in 2004 with Nigerian Bolaji Akinboro — was not available for comment.
Muragijimana also declined to comment on whether any other staff were injured in the attack and said the company would be issuing a further statement on the attacks tomorrow.
In response to a Whatsapp message today, Nailab hub manager Sam Gichuru described the mood in the Nairobi tech community as “sombre”.
“The entire community is standing with Cellulant, IDEV (whose founder Jason Spindler was also killed in the attack) and the families that lost loved ones,” said Gichuru via Whatsapp, having just arrived in Amsterdam.
Gichuru said he unfortunately would not be able to attend tomorrow’s memorial as he will be in Amsterdam at the time.
Asked whether the attack would have an effect on foreign investment and support on Kenya’s tech sector, Gichuru said: “I don’t think the community is worried about investment or support as of now, we have more pressing issues”.
Read more: It hits you that you are going to die – hub manager on Kenyan attack [Updated]
Editor’s note (22 January 2019): Kenyan business support organisation iHub will hold a meeting for those in the innovation community, following last Tuesday’s terrorist attack at the DusitD2 hotel. For more details see here.
Featured image: Twitter via Cellulant
