This archive report was first published on 30 July 2019.
On July 26, 2019, Ken Okoth, the late Kibra Member of Parliament (MP), succumbed to colorectal cancer. His paternal family, based in Rangwe Constituency, Homa Bay County, have expressed their readiness to bury him next to the remains of his late father, Nicholas Anayo Obonyo.
According to Raymond Mbai, the late Obonyo's nephew and the family's spokesman, they are not forcing anyone to bury Okoth in Amoso village, Kochia Ward, where his father lived before separating from his mother, Anjeline Ajwang'. Mbai emphasized that they are willing to take care of the burial arrangements if the family is unable to do so.
Okoth's father, Obonyo, died in 1993. Mbai explained that, according to Luo cultural traditions, a child belongs to the father, especially if he has fulfilled the cultural requirement of validating a marriage by paying bride price to the wife's parents. Mbai stated that Okoth's father had paid the dowry of two cows to Ajwang's parents, giving him the right to their children.
Okoth was the youngest of his four siblings. Although he had not been visiting his paternal family, Mbai said that Okoth had been made aware of his father's whereabouts during his lifetime.
