Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

top
Mourners were teargassed during the aborted burial of popular Ohangla musician Abenny Jachinga in Kisumu.

Capital Health

MoH says COVID-19 Bodies must not be buried at night if preserved well

[JOSPHAT MWANGI in Nyeri and DAVID AYEGA in Nairobi contributed to this article]

NAIROBI, Kenya June 14 – The Ministry of Health has now clarified that people who die from COVID-19 must not be buried at night.

This follows numerous incidents, particularly in Western Kenya, where victims were buried at night amid protests from family members and locals.

Director-General of Health at the ministry, Dr Patrick Amoth, said as long as the body has been taken care of well by public health officers, “the body is safe”.

He emphasized of the need to be cognizant of “our cultural practices” and assured that the Ministry will issue new protocols to the counties.

“If a culture dictates that we don’t bury at night, please hold on for another 12 hours so that the burial is held the following day,” he said, answering a question from a journalist during a tour of Othaya in Nyeri County, where he had accompanied Health Cabinet Secretary Mutahi Kagwe.

Health CS Mutahi Kagwe led a high-powered delegation to Othaya in Nyeri County on Sunday.

“We are going to send an alert to the counties, to remind them of this protocol so that we have a dignified burial of those who succumb to COVID-19,” Dr Amoth said.

The assurance follows a burial in Kisumu, of a popular Ohangla musician Abenny Jachinga, who was buried at 2am Saturday, after an earlier burial aborted as residents protested that it was hurried, prompting chaotic scenes.

In May, a Kenya Ports Authority official James Oyugi, who died of COVID-19 was buried at midnight at his Siaya home, by public health officials in hazmat suits, with no involvement of his close family.

Videos went viral of the officials disembarking from a pick-up truck and tossing his body covered in a white body bag, into the grave, with no coffin, in what shocked the nation, although it was later defended by the Ministry of Health as part of COVID-19 measures to avoid contagion.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.
The late-night burial in Siaya of a COVID-19 victim sparked outrage countrywide.

The situation was the same in Kisumum where Jachinga’s family accused authorities of forcing them to bury their kin within 48 hours, yet he did not die of COVID-19. They said he died of pneumonia.

More than 1000 mourners who had gathered for the burial on Friday were teargassed by police after youths pelted officers with stones.

The officers had been deployed to ensure security at the burial, which was resisted by elders and the family who wanted him interred next week, even as the government insisted he must be buried within 48 hours.

Mourners were teargassed during the aborted burial of popular Ohangla musician Abenny Jachinga in Kisumu.

In the ensuing melee, youths managed to grab the body from the burial site and marched with it back to mortuary.

Heavily armed police officers were later deployed to the village long after the protests.

Austin Omondi, a brother to the deceased, told journalists that officers knocked his house at 1 am and ordered him to accompany them to the mortuary to identify the body which was then taken back and buried at 2am.

Youths engaged police in running battle before they grabbed a coffin with the body of the musician which was taken back to the mortuary.

The family is accused the county government of Kisumu of hurrying the burial of the musician “without justification”.

They said locals who had lost their kin had not been forced to bury their kin within 48 hours, with others still having bodies in the mortuary.

About The Author

Comments
Advertisement

More on Capital News

NATIONAL NEWS

NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 28 – In a significant development for the East African financial landscape, PayAngel, a global fintech company, has chosen Kenya as...

NATIONAL NEWS

NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 28 – Former Sports Cabinet Secretary Rashid Echesa has been arrested in an investigation into claims of an extortion racket targeting...

NATIONAL NEWS

The prestigious event, known for honoring the continent's top young entrepreneurs and Chief Executive Officers under 40, will showcase Kenya's growing influence in the...

NATIONAL NEWS

NAKURU, Kenya, Mar 28 – The Chief Magistrate’s Court in Naivasha has acquitted Joshua Waiganjo of close to 10 charges against him. The offenses...

NATIONAL NEWS

President William Ruto directed the Ministry of Sports to work with the International Automobile Federation (FIA) and the WRC to make this a reality.

NATIONAL NEWS

NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 28 – Small-scale traders and importers can now breath a sigh of relief after the Government ordered the release of their...

Sports

President William Ruto on Thursday officially flagged off the 2024 World Rally Championship (WRC) Safari Rally at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC), Nairobi....

NATIONAL NEWS

NAIROBI, Kenya, Mar 27 – The Judicial Service Commission (JSC) has approved the establishment of an employee protection unit for victims of sexual harassment...