The residence of Kamukuywa village in Bungoma County were shocked after a man who was thought to have died and his body buried made an appearance back home.
It turned out that the man’s family had buried the body of someone else.
The man, by the name Wanjala, was thought to have been killed and his body mutilated beyond recognition.
The family then went to identify the body at a Webuye mortuary in 2021 and thought it was that of their kin. The body was released and the burial happened last year.
However, there is one family member who disputed that the body belonged to that of their kin.
He was overruled by the majority of family members and the body was buried.
The family was met with shock, when Wanjala returned home on August 29 this year.
He claimed he had travelled abroad and was back home.
Wanjala’s mother said her son regularly travelled outside the country for work for a period of two months, but in 2019, he left, and did not return.
Kimilili police chief Mwita Maroa urged residents to be careful when identifying bodies.
Elsewhere Tebere MCA-elect Peter Karinga has been applaud by Ndindiruku villagers for offering to support by buying a coffin to bury one Mr. Njeru Ndinga who was to be buried in a sack. Mr Njeru died after an attack by a crocodile.
“For us in Ndindiruku, it’s normal for those who have not joined burial welfare groups (to be buried in sacks); the other day it took me 10 minutes to bury an elderly man after his family failed to meet burial expenses,” a resident, Alexander Nzomo, said
Karinga urged villagers to join burial welfare groups. “Dead people must be handled with dignity and respect,” Karinga said.
Church leaders in the area, led by David Ngugi of Akorino, encouraged residents to dispose of dead bodies with respect. “I came here to witness what I was told by the villagers after the MCA intervened,” Ngugi said.
