This archive report was first published on 16 August 2019.
On August 16, 2019, detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) at Butere Police Station began probing the exhumation of a body without a court order.
According to reports, Martin Shikuku Alukoye, an employee in the Kakamega County Youth Service, had fallen into River Eburinde on August 7 and drowned. His body was buried on Sunday night in line with local customs, fully dressed in a green uniform, boots, service cap, whistle, and a lanyard.
However, on Monday morning, county administrators from the Ituti community demanded the uniforms allocated to Alukoye when he joined the service. The family was told that he was buried with the regalia, but the county officials instructed youth service officers to exhume the body and retrieve the uniform without authority.
As a result, the body was stripped and later reburied on Monday evening in fresh clothes. Yesterday, police summoned 10 people, including five county staff alleged to have ordered or participated in the exhumation.
