NAIROBI, Kenya Jul 20 – Actor Charles Bukeko of the popular Papa Shirandula TV show was buried Monday, joining a lost list of victims who have succumbed to COVID-19 in Kenya.
234 people had died of COVID-19 in the country by Sunday, with 13,353 positive cases.
Papa Shirandula died on Friday, days after testing positive for coronavirus.
His widow Beatrice Andega said he died in the car at Karen Hospital’s parking lot, even before he could be admitted. Bukeko leaves behind a widow and three children.
His burial in Funyula was conducted by Public Health officials in hazmat suits, in line with the Ministry of Health’s COVID-19 protocol.
His widow recounted th last moments she had with her departed husband, recalling how they waited for long in the car for Karen Hospital to admit him for emergency treatment.
“He passed on while I was with him in the car, He was not even admitted, the process at Karen Hospital was too long,” she said. The hospital’s CEO Juliet Nyaga issued a statement Monday, denying negligence claims following media reports attributed to the widow.
She said Papa Shirandula had been busy in his last two weeks alive, and even worked day and night.
“And when he came back home, he was complaining of cold and that is when I advised him to go to hospital for tests including pneumonia and COVID-19,” she said.
He was buried in his Namisi-Bukeko village home in Nanderema, Funyula in Busia County, attended by a handful of mourners, including fellow actors.
His parents said the family had lost its main breadwinner.
Cosmus Bukeko, Papa Shirandula’s father said the gap left by his son will be felt by many for years to come.
“Many people would have wanted to be here, because Charlie is a person who was well-known. I may be talking right but my heart is heavy and wounded,” said Bukeko.
His mother Veleria Wafula recounted the role Shirandula, as the eldest son, played to his siblings.
“I give thanks to the Lord because he is the one who brought him to this world and he is the one who has called him back home to be with him. We loved Papa, but God loved him even more. And so it is by faith that I believe that just as my son has gone, let him reach his destination, because his actions will speak of themselves before the Lord,” she said.
