This archive report was first published on 18 May 2020.
On a Friday morning in Kimilili, Trans Nzoia County, a family's grief was compounded by a sense of injustice as their kin was hurriedly buried at 3am.
Geoffrey Kibet Barasa's body was buried in the wee hours of the morning at his homestead in Baraton, Kiminini constituency, in a ceremony that lasted only 15 minutes.
The family claims that Barasa had died after being denied dialysis services to manage his kidney condition, and that he had tested negative for Covid-19 at the Kenyatta National Hospital.
"He has been sickly even before the coronavirus outbreak. He had been admitted at the Nairobi Women's Hospital in Kajiado before he was referred to the Kenyatta National Hospital where he tested negative for the virus," said Barasa's wife, Victoria Wafula.
The family is now seeking to have the body exhumed to undergo a postmortem, citing concerns over the hasty burial and the alleged misdiagnosis of Covid-19.
Trans Nzoia Health Executive Claire Namenge defended the burial process, stating that due process was followed.
"When we received notice from the government about a person who had died of the Covid-19, we followed due process of burying him," she said.
