Government donates Sh1 million towards Janet Wanja’s burial arrangements

The government has donated Sh1 million to Kenyan volleyball star Janet Wanja’s family for her funeral and burial expenses.

The Sh500,000 cash donation from President William Ruto and an additional Sh500,000 from the Ministry of Sports were presented during Ms. Wanja’s memorial service at the Kasarani gymnasium.

The late volleyball player’s family has said she will be laid to rest on Friday, January 3, at the Lang’ata Cemetery.

The former Malkia Strikers star passed away last Thursday, December 26, 2024, after a battle with cancer.

She passed on while undergoing treatment at the MP Shah Hospital in Nairobi.

Wanja fell ill in August shortly after returning from the Paris Olympics, where she served as the Malkia Strikers’ fitness trainer.

Facts about Janet Wanja

Before that, she had played for Malkia Strikers as a setter for at least 10 years.

Wanja was born on February 24, 1984, in Nairobi.

She died at the age of 40.

While little is known about her primary education, she went to Mukumu Girls High School for her secondary education, and this is where she emerged as a top volleyball player.

She would later on join the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) volleyball club, where she started playing professionally, before she later on joined the Kenya Pipeline, where she played until her retirement from the sport.

Wanja made her Olympic debut for the national team in 2004, at the age of 19, in the Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece.

In 2007, she was part of Kenya’s national side that won its seventh victory at the Women’s African Volleyball Championship. In the finals, they played against Algeria. She would then be voted for as the best setter in the championship.

The volleyball star would later on represent Kenya at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in Japan.

After announcing her retirement from playing, Wanja was named as one of the coaches for the Kenya women’s volleyball team Malkia Strikers earlier this year.

As a member of the coaching staff, she was with the team in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and the 2024 World Challenger Cup in the Philippines.

Wanja came from a family with an eye for sports.

Her elder brother Kevin Kimani also played for the AFC Leopards football club and the men’s national football team Harambee Stars.

In 2017 Wanja was in the Kenya Pipeline team in Cairo as they contested the Women’s Africa Club Volleyball Championship.

She was once married to Andrew Swearman but their relationship ended a few years ago after allegations to domestic violence and infidelity.