Drama unfolded in Homa Bay when the burial of 12-year-old Kennedy Onyango, scheduled at a home in Kamasengre village, Suba North constituency, was halted by police enforcing a court order. The boy had died from a gunshot wound during anti-government protests in Ongata Rongai, Kajiado County.
Kennedy’s mother, Josinter Anyango, had planned to bury him on Rusinga Island. However, Denish Okinyi, Anyango’s alleged ex-husband, wanted the burial to take place at his home in Kisaku Village, Rangwe East Sub Location, Kaksingri West location, Homa Bay.
After taking the body from the mortuary in Nairobi, Anyango and her family moved it to Homa Bay, arriving in Rusinga on Friday afternoon. Shortly after their arrival, Okinyi’s family stormed the home, demanding the body for burial in their preferred location.
They presented a court order from the Mbita Law Court, which prohibited Anyango from burying her son. Okinyi, accompanied by police officers, ensured the court order was enforced, halting the burial.
“Anyango and her friends from Nairobi first engaged Okinyi in a verbal confrontation. They were throwing words at each other as tension continued to build up,” a resident said.
It took the intervention of police officers to reduce the rising tension.
In the court order, Mbita Principal Magistrate Nicodemus Moseti certified the matter as urgent.
He ordered that the body of Kennedy be taken to the Sindo sub-county hospital mortuary for preservation.
“The OCS Mbita is ordered to enforce through orders herein. The applicant is directed to serve the respondents before the close of business today,” the magistrate directed.
Moseti set an inter-parties hearing on July 17.
The court will decide whether Anyango or Okinyi will bury the boy. Both families, along with the body, went to Mbita police station after the court order was served. Anyango claimed that her alleged ex-husband was not involved in the boy’s life.
However, Okinyi’s family insisted that Kennedy was their child and should be buried at their home. Okinyi’s lawyer, Edmond Kobil, stated that his client wanted the body preserved near his home for easier burial arrangements. Police used the court order to temporarily resolve the matter.
