This archive report was first published on 13 June 2020.
On Saturday, June 13, 2020, hundreds of mourners gathered at Abenny Jachiga's home in Kolwa East, Chiga Sub-Location, Kisumu East Constituency, only to find that the musician had been buried at 1:30am, when they were asleep.
According to Luo traditions, only people who die by suicide are buried in the dead of night. The mourners were protesting against Jachiga's night burial, demanding that his body be exhumed and given a decent send-off.
Abenny Jachiga's mother, Monica Auma, and widow, Belinda Aluoch, sat on his grave to prevent the mourners from exhuming his body. 'You want to kill me! Don't exhume my son's body,' Auma said, looking straight into the mourners' eyes.
Out of respect for Jachiga's elderly mother, the mourners watched as Auma and Aluoch sat on the grave. They had allegedly succumbed to pneumonia on Thursday, June 11, and were buried under tight security, with the widow and mother barred from attending the burial.
