High drama that unfolded before Ken Okoth’s cremation
The hours preceding the cremation of the body of Kibra MP Ken Okoth were marked with intrigues, anxiety, secrecy and high drama.
Okoth’s body was cremated early on Saturday at a private event at the Kariokor Crematorium, but some close family members, including the late MP’s mother, were kept in the dark.
The tense situation was further heightened by fears that residents of Kibra were planning to block all the roads leading to the Kariokor Crematorium to stop the MP’s cremation.
According to a source at Lee Funeral Home, Monica Okoth, the wife to the late MP, arrived at the facility in the wee hours of Saturday morning demanding her husband’s body.
A source told Nairobi News that Monica’s actions were driven by fears that residents of Kibra were planning to stop the cremation.
SECRET CREMATION
For that reason, the family wanted the body to arrive at Kariokor Crematorium as early as possible before the resident barricaded the roads.
The residents wanted Okoth’s remains to be buried at his mother’s rural home in Kasipul Kabondo.
However, Lee Funeral Home declined to release the body until around 3am when they allowed Monica and other family members to have the body.
Okoth’s body arrived at the crematorium around 7am and cremation commenced 30 minutes later.
“We only learnt about the cremation like the rest of Kenyans. Some of the relatives apparently held a meeting on Saturday night which Ken’s mother was also left out,” said Evans Olouch, the late MP’s nephew.
Okoth’s mother is reported to have been opposed to the idea of cremating her son, whose body she wanted to be buried next to her house in Kasipul Kabondo.