ODM Kisumu Chair suggests that Politicians should not speak at funerals in future

 

Kisumu County ODM Party Chairman Prof Ayiecho Olweny address the press in Kisumu today where he suggested that Politicians from the region should in future not allowed to speak at funerals since some of them cause chaos at such functions-Photo By Dickson Odhiambo

By Dickson Odhiambo

July 25, 2021

ODM Kisumu Chair suggests that Politicians should not speak at funerals in future

POLITICIANS in Kisumu County may be barred from speaking at funerals within the area unless the funerals are theirs, an Orange Democratic Party official at the County Level has suggested.

Kisumu County Orange Democratic Movement {ODM} Party Chairperson Prof Patrick Ayiecho Olweny has suggested that politicians within the county should not be allowed to speak at funerals in future because some of them cause chaos during such ceremonies where youth sometimes clash leading to even death.

Addressing the press in Kisumu today, the Kisumu County ODM Chair, County Assembly of Kisumu Majority Leader Kenneth Onyango and Kisumu Central Constituency ODM Chair Seth Ochieng Kanga have all condemned the yesterday’s incident during the funeral of Legion Maria of African Church Mission Arch Bishop Lazarus Obera where supporters of some politicians clashed leading to the dead of one person who was stabbed to death in Miwani ward.

Olweny says claims by some politicians who were in attendance that there was a protocol hitch was not there, adding that according to him the family of the deceased was the one to control the protocol to be followed but not the politicians.

“If there is a politician who claims that he or she was left out from the protocol during the funeral program for the late Arch Bishop, then he was wrong. A politician has a right to organize for a political function and controls the protocol they way you want but coming to a funeral and mess it up. Burial functions belong to the bereaved families,” Prof Olweny says.

Olweny who is a former Assistant Minister and former Muhoroni Member of Parliament says he largely blame some politicians whom he claims were behind the fracas in Muhoroni during such an event.

“The area MP was invited to talk, the Senator Kisumu County was equally invited to do so as well as the former Kisumu Governor but they did not come forward to address the gathering and they refused,” Ayiecho adds.

He says that he castigates such a move, adding that in future the political leaders do not have to be allowed to talk in funerals unless the funeral belongs to their families.

“My suggestion is that the political leaders do not have to be allowed to talk in funerals unless such funerals belongs to their families. They do not have to press to talk in funerals which are not there’s and should allowed such a bereaved family to mourn peacefully,” he further adds.

Olweny has called on the police to thoroughly investigate the incident where one person was stabbed to death there by disrupting the funeral ceremony.

County Assembly of Kisumu Majority leader Kenneth Onyango claims that the violence was properly planned hence called for thorough investigations to ascertain the truth.

“The perpetrators of the chaos witnessed are not and we are calling upon the police to apprehend them immediately,” Onyango says.

Kisumu Central ODM Chair and Market/Mlimani Ward Rep Seth Ochieng Kanga says the ODM party has a code of Conduct which its members who are sponsored by it should strictly adhere to while in public functions.

“We urge all the party members, both elected and nominated members of Parliament to behave within the confines of ODM party code of conduct,” Kanga says.

The leaders’ sentiments come barely a day after fracas erupted during the funeral of Legion Maria of African Church mission Arch Bishop Lazarus Obera who was also the Senior Human Resource Manager at the County Assembly of Kisumu where one person was stabbed to death.

The funeral service was marred with chaos where one person was stabbed in a scuffle among supporters of some politicians.

 

Protocol hitch has been alleged as the issue that enabled the chaos to erupt during the burial that has occurred in Miwani Ward.

 

Trouble started when Speaker of the County Assembly of Kisumu Elisha Jack Oraro who was the master of Ceremony begun inviting the guests who included Kisumu Senator Fred Outa and Former Governor Jack Ranguma to address the mourners but this seemed not to have gone down well with the duo.

 

This did not go down well too with the area Member of Parliament James Onyango K’Oyoo who protested when the Speaker reportedly told him to address the mourners then give him back the Microphone to invite other guests, adding that he would address the mourners last since the late Arch Bishop has been an employee at the County Assembly of Kisumu where he worked as the Senior Human Resource Manager.

 

Before both Kisumu Senator Fred Outa and former Kisumu Governor Ranguma rose to speak, some youth booed, heckle and demanded that no politician should speak at the funeral after Kisumu County Liaison Officer Samwel Ong'ou.

A suspect drew a knife and stabbed one person then it became free for all as the suspect tried to escape from the scene prompting a police officer who was providing security during the funeral to shoot in the air to scare away the rowdy crowd.

 

Police allegedly shot the run-away suspect in the leg and arrested thereby disarming him of the weapon.

The program ended prematurely and the body of the late arch Bishop taken to his final resting place where the Church conducted final burial rites before interring him at Saint Mary’s Nyakoko Legion Maria of Africa Church Mission.

 

Police took the injured to the hospital as report from the venue indicated that the victim had passed on by the time he was being taken to the health facility for treatment.

Arch Bishop Lazarus Obera died on July 10 after a short illness at Aga Khan Hospital in Kisumu.

Meanwhile, Kisumu Governor Prof Peter Anyang Nyong’o condemned the reported chaos that occurred today during the burial of the Arch Bishop Obera.

“As the Governor of this County, I wish to reiterate that we abhor any form of intolerance and violence in public places. It is even more demeaning and is disrespectful for any politician to orchestrate any form of violence during funerals where we are expected to preach peace and condole with the bereaved,” Nyong’o says.