This archive report was first published on 5 August 2020.
On July 21, 2020, Harrison Nkunja, a police officer, collapsed and died while on guard duty at Equity Bank Makutano branch in Meru. The burial of police officers is usually accompanied by a gun salute as a sign of respect, but COVID-19 has changed this tradition.
According to Central region police boss Patrick Lumumba, the service will only conduct the ceremony where necessary and safe. He explained that if someone died of COVID-19, pallbearers would be Ministry of Health officials, and they do not encourage gun salute ceremonies due to the crowd issue and other safety measures.
Imenti North OCPD Robinson Mboloi also stated that the formality was skipped due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. He said that during this time, they are avoiding the drill because it involves a form of parade that could put people at risk of contracting the virus.
