Alone, Sheila Adhiambo Lumumba, a 25-year old non-binary lesbian lay dead in their one-bedroom apartment in a small town, north of Nairobi, for three days before finally being discovered. Lumumba was sexually assaulted, hit on the head with a blunt object and stabbed in the chest, face, neck, and one of their eyes was partially gorged out. Their death on the 17th of April 2022 sparked calls for justice in Kenya where homosexuality remains illegal. But who was Sheila Lumumba and what did they want? To be happy, but also to love and take care of family. Brenda Akinyi, Lumumba’s cousin who knew them their entire life, described them as someone with a bubbly personality, a people’s person who loved partying. “Sheila was just a normal young person who loved to party and go out with friends in their own free time. They were an independent, strong and ambitious person, loved people, was funny and a great friend to everyone,” says Akinyi. Another of Lumumba’s cousins and friend Stacy Ogola testifies to Lumumba’s love for the party. “One day my mom went to work and left me some money for food. So I called Sheila. I told [them] we got money to drink but I don’t know what mom will eat when she gets back home.” “So we went to celebrate [their] birthday and we celebrated mine too because I knew I would be grounded.. [their] birthday is 1st August and mine is on the 14th,” Ogola reveals fondly. According to Akinyi, Lumumba was also “harsh and not easily swayed.” “When Sheila would make up their mind no one could convince them otherwise, even if one will get hurt and they know that they are standing for the truth, they won’t back out,” she tells Minority Africa. Born and raised partly in Nairobi’s Umoja Estate before relocating to Naivasha, a town in the Rift Valley region where their father had been transferred to from Samburu, Lumumba stood out for being more adventurous than their peers. Lumumba came from a family of four. To their close knit family, they were fondly called “Leila.” They attended Milimani Primary in Naivasha before relocating to Nairobi at the height of post-election violence in 2008 when Naivasha town was worst hit by clashes in the country. In Nairobi, Lumumba’s family lived with Akinyi where Lumumba joined Kileleshwa primary. Later the family became more financially stable and they again moved to Umoja estate where Lumumba completed their primary education at Busara Primary. They then proceeded to join Parkland Girls Secondary school in the heart of the city. “When Sheila was in high school, their teacher called the dad to school and informed him that there were speculations that his ‘daughter was a lesbian.’ He refuted the claims strongly. He could not believe it then.” Akinyi disclosed. When school would close for mid and end-term breaks, Lumumba’s first destination was mostly Akinyi’s place in Nairobi’s Kileleshwa suburbs. At one time in their routine work at the kindergarten that Akinyi owns, Lumumba confided in her that they were gay. Lumumba also shared their secret with Ogola. “I was the first person [they] told [they were] a lesbian. We didn’t know how the family would take it. So we kept it to ourselves. That was when [Lumumba] was in high school,” Ogola recalls. When Lumumba finally shared their identity with their parents, it was a big blow creating a distance with their father with whom they had a very cordial relationship. “‘Sheila is telling me that she is a man. What is that?’” Lumumba’s dad would ask Akinyi every other time they had a telephone conversation. Their blossoming father-child relationship, although it didn’t break completely, suffered due to Lumbumba’s identity and a whole year passed without father and child seeing or even talking to each other, Akinyi reveals. “[Lumumba] changed the way they were talking, dressing, looking and even their walking style. People were not accepting them. It was the darkest moment of [Lumumba’s] life but they had to soldier on,” says Akinyi. Speaking to local media in June 2022 after their death, Lumumba’s mother refuted their sexual orientation and gender identity and maintained that Lumumba was “purely a girl.” “Sheila was a girl and there is nothing again about that. Even if my daughter was like that, I loved my daughter so much and I was not aware. I am the one who is in pain and I loved my daughter so much,” Millicent explained. When contacted for this story in 2022, Lumumba’s mother was too emotional and declined to speak and their father requested that we speak to Akinyi instead. Although not being fully there, Akinyi admits that their attitude to Lumumba changed over the course of the years making them more accepting. However, the rejection from close family members at the time as well as having no job made the 23 year old very sad.