Her Mother Accused Me of Being an Al Shabaab Terrorist, Late Tecra Muigai's Boyfriend Omar Lali Says

Omar Lali, the fiancé of the late Keroche Breweries heiress Tecra Muigai has opened up about his relationship with the deceased.

In a recent interview with The Standard, Omar said Tecra initiated their love relationship after they met at a Lamu restaurant.

"I had gone to dinner with my daughter who had not been to Kenya in many years. Tecra was at the restaurant with a friend who I happened to know. I said hello to my friend but when I got home my friend called me saying Tecra was asking around for the guy with the grey beard,” said Omar.

"That night we stayed late as we talked about life. I took her to her room at around 2 am and she told me not to leave because she felt at peace being with me. We spent the night together and that is how our love started."

The 51-year-old father of five divulged that Tecra’s mother, Keroche CEO Tabitha Karanja was opposed to their relationship and had vowed her daughter would never live with an “Al Shabaab terrorist.”

"When Tecra took me to her family, they didn't want to hear anything about me. Her mother told me there is no way her daughter was going to live with an Al Shabaab terrorist.”

“But I have since forgiven her since she is old school she probably didn't mean it. At one point she came home with a convoy of six cars and I decided to escape because I was afraid of the people she was bringing," he added.

It took the intervention of Tecra’s brother, James Muigai who convinced their father Joseph Karanja (Keroche Chairman) to bless the relationship.

"Mzee blessed us and the feud stopped. We toured the world and I was able to teach her to overcome her fears. The only thing, regrettably, that I failed to teach her was regulation of alcohol intake. She used to drink a lot and I pleaded with her to only drink after sunset but she would respond by telling that her family was in the alcohol business and drinking was their tradition which I must respect as she respected mine," Omar explained.

He said he spent nearly all his time looking after Tecra until that fateful night when she fell down the stairs at a holiday home in Lamu, where they were living together.

"That day I had taken some antibiotics for my tooth which had an infection. She pressured me to drink but I only took a few drinks and blacked out. I was awoken by the sound of a thud and when I work up, I realized she had fallen down the sharp staircase on her way to the washroom," he said.

Tecra, 29, died a few days later while undergoing treatment at the Nairobi Hospital.

Omar was arrested and detained but was freed after the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Noordin Haji dropped murder charges against him and instead requested for an inquest into Tecra’s death.

“She was a special lady. Even I know there can never be another like her. God had his reasons for taking her this early. We will never know why. I miss many things about her. You would never get bored around her. She never talked ill about anyone else. She was sensible. Always had a smile on her. Her smile and her heart were the same,” said Omar, adding that they were set to get married.