Disagreement persists on Ken Okoth burial
The late Kibra MP Ken Okoth. He succumbed to colorectal cancer on July 26, 2019. FILE PHOTO | HUGHOLIN KIMARO | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
Funeral committee releases farewell programme to guide the itinerary leading to final send off late Kibra MP.
- There has been a disagreement on whether Ken Okoth will be cremated or buried.
- The paternal family also claims that they have been kept in the dark over his burial plans.
The committee planning the funeral arrangements of the late Kibra lawmaker Ken Okoth has released a farewell programme to guide the itinerary leading to his final send off.
The late Okoth succumbed to colorectal cancer on Friday last week at the Nairobi Hospital.
The committee led by former Ndhiwa MP Agostinho Neto said that there would be a public viewing of the body on Wednesday at the Lee Funeral Home before a memorial service is held by the Starehe Community between 2pm and 4pm.
On Thursday, the body will be taken to Moi Girls High School in Kibra Constituency, Nairobi for public viewing between 10am and 4pm.
“This is where the late Ken had his last public meeting and we saw it fit to have the public and the people he represented to have the chance to view his body,” said Mr Neto on Tuesday night at Silver Springs Hotel in Nairobi.
The civil society, where the late lawmaker has been hailed as a champion for education and human rights, will hold a commemoration between 2pm and 6pm at the University of Nairobi on Friday.
CONTROVERSY
Thereafter, the body will be airlifted to his maternal grandparents’ home at Got Rateng Primary School in Kabondo Kasipul, Homa Bay County on Saturday for a funeral service.
However, the committee consisting of Nairobi Senator Johnson Sakaja, and MPs Dr Eve Obara (Kabondo Kasipul), Seme's Dr James Nyikal, Westlands' Tim Wanyonyi and Yusuf Hassan of Kamukunji, failed to clearly reveal whether Okoth will be interred in Kabondo Kasipul or he will be lifted back to Nairobi for cremation.
There has been a disagreement on whether the second-term MP will be cremated or buried and where the latter will take place at his late father’s home in Kochia, Rangwe Constituency or at his maternal family home in Kasewe, Kabondo Kasipul.
The paternal family on Tuesday claimed that they have been kept in the dark over his burial plans.
The family spokesperson Raymond Mbai said they would wish that Okoth be buried at his father's ancestral home in Kochia, Homa Bay County in accordance with Luo traditions.
Okoth’s parents, Nicholas Obonyo and Angeline Ajwang separated when he was young in the 1980s.
Okoth then moved with his mother to her ancestral home in Kabondo Kasipul.
