For International Women's Day we tell the story of Esther's 79 year wait for her husband

Esther Mbulwa Mutava is 97 years old and lives in the village of Kitui in Kenya. Esther recently met with CWGC’s Kenya fieldwork team to tell her story.

In 1943, Private Mutava Ingati requested a month’s leave to travel back to his home in Kitui so that he could be married. Mutava’s elder brother had already been killed in the war and he was concerned that if he died unmarried and childless, his family name and legacy would be lost. His request was granted, and he married Esther – staying with her for just a month before he returned to the war, never to return.

Mutava returned to action and subsequently died on 1st August 1945. He is buried in CWGC’s Calcutta (Bhowanipore) Cemetery, India. Esther received news of her husband’s death from his older brother but as no official documents reached her, she was reluctant to believe the terrible news, and held out hope for 79 years that he might one day still return.

Sadly, this was not to be and communicating the reality of what happened was hard for Esther to hear and CWGC’s Kenyan team to deliver. This distressing news was only tempered by her response to our offer to add a personal inscription to her husband's headstone. Without a moment’s hesitation she asked that “NGAI NAIE THAGȖ WAKEVANDȖ VASEO” in her native Kikamba (“LET THE LORD KEEP HIS SOUL IN PEACE.”) be added – something CWGC is honoured to do on her behalf.