The famous Mercedes Benz limousine hearse is one of the most trusted rides for ferrying the wealthiest and top dignitaries to their final resting spots.
In Kenya, Mercedes Benz with number plate KAW 091V is the ultimate hearse behind the shipping of over five dignitaries before their burials.
On Wednesday, February 8, the body of the late Education Cabinet Secretary George Magoha was given an ultimate final ride in the Mercedes Benz with the number plate KAW 091V.
The black five-door Mercedes-Benz E-Class hearse clouded Nairobi with a sombre mood as it passed through the University of Nairobi (UoN), Starehe Boys and The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council Headquarters.
It was flanked by other government vehicles and police outriders paving the way for the late Magoha's final ride.
The hearse, which costs north of Ksh10 million, is synonymous in the country for picking different late dignitaries from Lee Funeral Home in Nairobi.
In May 2016, KAW 091V was picked to ferry the body of the late former first lady Lucy Kibaki. The limousine snaked through different streets in Nairobi as Kenyans paid their last respects to the late former President Mwai Kibaki's wife.
Coincidentally, the same hearse was used to carry the body of the late slain businessman Jacob Juma at the All Saints Cathedral in Nairobi for a requiem mass.
That was not the exception. On June 16, 2012, the body of former Minister George Saitoti was picked from Lee Funeral by the same high-end car. Other top political figures who rode in the KAW 091V hearse include the late John Michuki and Njenga Karume.
In a previous interview, Paul Mulinge disclosed that he was the limousine's driver. He stated that he had chauffeured the corpses of former First Lady Lucy Kibaki, former Ministers John Michuki, George Saitoti, Soita Shitanda, William Ole Ntimama and Orwa Ojode.
He also chauffeured billionaire businessmen Njenga Karume and Jacob Juma.
Features of the High-End Car
The black five-door Mercedes-Benz E-Class hearse carries 3 passengers; a core driver, and two family members of the deceased. It features an extended wheelbase and rear deck for an overall length of 5999 millimetres – or 1104 millimetres longer than the S212 E-Class station wagon.
Its hearse extension allows the car to maintain room for front and back seat passengers and the casket deck. The windows on the rear bodywork are 750 millimetres tall, and the vehicle’s overall height is 1920 millimetres.
KAW 091V is among the cars founded in 1936 in Lorch, near Stuttgart in Germany. Its first version was built by famed German coachbuilder, Binz.
To break the KAW 091V monotony, a Ksh17 million Jaguar hearse was shipped into the country. The Jaguar hearse ferried the body of the late former President Daniel Toroitich arap Moi in February 2020.
It was driven from Lee Funeral Home to State House flanked by state vehicles and outsiders.
