Kenya Editors Guild president Kananu on Wednesday gave an emotional tribute to the late Journalist, Rita Tinina.
An emotional Zubeida, could not hide her tears as her voice, heavy with emotion and sorrow, broke through the solemn silence of the funeral bringing people to tears.
Each word seemed to tremble with the weight of grief.
"Inauma sana.Rita alikuwa mmoja wetu na tunahuzuni sana. Inauma sana," Zubeida said.
This translates to: It hurts a lot. Rita was one of us and we feel grieved. It hurts a lot.
Zubedia who was dressed in a white dress and a red maasai shuka said that she bought the shuka in her last assignment with Tinina.
Showering a colleague who turned out to be a great friend with praises, Zubeida described Tinina as one who never had disputes with anyone and never looked down upon anyone.
The KEG president said as humans we cannot question God's decision.
"I know at times it reaches a point we have to ask God why, but we also know kazi ya Mungu haina makosa (God's work has no mistakes)," Zubeida said
Zubeida however told the mourners that they had to let Tinina rest.
"We shall pray that God rests her soul in peace. We need to let go because if we don't, she won't rest. God says he is preparing a place for us," she added.
Zubeida said Tinina's death was very sudden and compared it with the rising and setting of the sun.
"I learned that death is like how the sun rises and sets. It's just that we do not know when ours will set," she added.
Lastly, Zubeida said that people should learn from Tinina and how she lived her life.
"We learn from Rita’s death that we should love people. When you see people here, you know what kind of a person Rita was," she added.