This archive report was first published on 14 June 2020.
On June 12, 2020, the family of ohangla musician Abenny Jachiga was still reeling in shock after people not known to them, believed to be police officers, buried his body at dawn in Chiga, Kisumu County.
According to sources, a group of people, some armed with guns and accompanied by 'bouncers', stormed St Elizabeth Hospital mortuary in Kisumu and took away Jachiga's body. By 2:30 am, as family members were asleep, they buried the body.
Meanwhile, in Vihiga County, popular 'twist' musician John Nzenze was accorded a decent burial, devoid of the drama that accompanied Jachiga's burial. Nzenze died about two weeks ago at the Mukumu Mission Hospital, where he had been hospitalized for a month, battling hypertension and stomach ulcers.
As the nation grappled with the COVID-19 pandemic, the contrasting burials raised questions about the implementation of public health guidelines. In early May, James Oyugi, a Kenya Ports Authority employee, was buried at midnight at his home in Siaya County, after health officials said he had died of COVID-19.
Senior police officers in the region denied claims that their officers were involved in Jachiga's burial, with Kisumu East OCPD Ezekiel Sing'oi stating, 'I do not know the people who paraded as officers who went to collect the body from the morgue.'
