By Timothy Mugo

The father of the slain 22 year old recent graduate who was murdered by her boyfriend has denounced claims that the man was paying fees for his daughter.

Information doing rounds on social media claims that the Edinald Atieno Nyainda was murdered in cold blood after she allegedly threatened to separate from her boyfriend who had allegedly paid her University school fees.

“I have single handly struggled to educate my children, more so my last born girl throughout her education all through Primary to the University,” John Okello, the father to the murdered girl said.

Atieno started her school at Ngege Primary School where she attained 384 marks in her Kenya Certificate of Primary Education that won her a slot at Ng’iya Girls High School.

It was there that she performed exemplarily and proceeded to Kenyatta University to pursue a course in Public Health.

“How could he pay school fees when she was a regular student? Besides, I paid for her fees the first two years before she got Helb loan,” he said.

‘Atwech’, as she was largely referred to was born and bred in Ngege village in Migori county but was living in Nairobi as she pursued her studies.

According to her father, they were awaiting her homecoming to celebrate the graduation of their last born when the unexpected happened.

“She was the youngest and the brightest among my four children since her primary school days, she was the hope of this family,” said a remorseful father.

He added; “She has left a big gap in this family. I wanted a bright future for my daughter and so to it that she lacked nothing in school.”

Okello said his last born always treasured education and wanted to get straight entry to the university and worked hard and achieved it.

“Atwech’ wanted to relieve me of the burden of taking to college through parallel degree, a promise she kept when she got a B + (plus),” Okello bemoaned.

The father educated the slain daughter’s siblings through parallel degree program with the first born daughter pursuing Law and the second born Accounting.

He said that he paid full fee for his last born for first and second years in college before his elder son informed him that Atieno had received his first batch of his HELB loan.

“All I heard from her elder brother after her death was she once moved in with him when she could not get a hostel to accommodate her inside the university premises,” Okello said

“She had tried severally to apply for the Higher Education Loans board fund but her application was not going through, till her third year of study,” Okello explained.

But the Family is still coming to terms with the abrupt news of the demise of their daughter in Kahawa on Monday.

The 22 year old slain girl’s grandmother Christabel Nyainda said they were anxiously waiting for the ladies homecoming that was not to happen.

“She was a loving and caring girl with her beauty wining her name, Atwech. Honestly, we don’t know her real name,” her grandmother said.

Her uncle Bishop Fredrick Nyainda urged the youth in learning institutions to embrace the word of God.

But the Atieno’s father is still recovering from the shock of the news of the demise of their last born.

Okello lives with his second wife with after he separated with the mother of Atwech three years ago, but was in constant communication with his daughter for that time.

“She used to come home to visit her grandmother whenever she got chance during holidays from school, we loved her.”