Orengo dares CS Kagwe over Siaya burial of COVID-19 deceased patient

Incidences surrounding
the burial of a patient said to have succumbed to COVID-19 in Siaya County have
sparked controversy, with senator James Orengo referring to it as “crude and
macabre.”

The senator
now wants health CS Mutahi Kgwe to explain the cause of death and the circumstances
surrounding the burial, which took place at night against burial rules.

In a press
statement, Orengo demands an explanation from both the national and the county
government of their understanding of the events that led to horrific act.

“Human
dignity does not end with death. In all cultures across the world the burial of
the dead is a solemn event accompanied with elaborate rituals. We respect the
dead and that is why we have graves, tombs, crypts, mausoleums and pyramids.
Veneration of the dead is based on love, respect and dignity for the deceased,”
said Mr. Orengo.

The senator
added that, in the African and more so Kenyan society, such kind of act with
little concern for the grieving family and the community has no place.

The senator
has also called on the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) president Nelson Havi to take
necessary legal action on the matter.

The deceased,
James Oyugi Onyango –a former Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) employee, –succumbed
to coronavirus infections, after traveling from Mobasa to his home in Siaya.