• Kenya National Union of Nurses secretary general Seth Panyako on Thursday asked police to unravel the reason behind the killing of Ferdinand Ongeri.
Image: FILE
Nurses have asked Interior CS Fred Matiang'i to ensure those behind the murder of their Kisumu branch official are brought to book.
Kenya National Union of Nurses secretary general Seth Panyako on Thursday asked police to unravel the reason behind the killing of Ferdinand Ongeri.
Ongeri's body was found by a herdsman in Kimondi Forest in Nandi county on July 27, two days after he disappeared.
Panyako said they have reason to believe police are aware of why Ongeri, 40, was murdered based on information they have so far gathered.
He said it was the second murder case in two years. "Security of nurses must be guaranteed," Panyako said during Ongeri's requiem mass at St Joseph Milimani Catholic Church in Kisumu.
He eulogised Ongeri as a devoted worker who spent most of his time serving patients and his colleagues.
"His death is a big loss to the entire union," he said.
Kisumu branch secretary Maurice Opetu said Ongeri's killing was unfortunate because he was a dedicated unionist.
Nurses on Thursday held a peaceful procession along major streets in Kisumu town demanding justice for their colleague. They asked authorities to speed up investigations and ensure culprits are brought to book.
“We are not going to settle and serve the people of Kisumu when the security of nurses is not guaranteed,” Opetu said.
Opetu said Ongeri's throat was slit, his neck twisted and there were bruises all over the body and a cut on his mouth which showed he was tortured.
He said police had informed the union that Ongeri might have been killed elsewhere and his body dumped in the forest.
Ongeri went missing just after successfully negotiating a promotion deal for nurses with the Kisumu county's health department two days earlier.
According to the union, he was last seen with a boda boda rider who dropped him at Kiboswa market on the Kisumu-Kakamega highway at about 3 pm.
“His dream was to see that every nurse is promoted after having stagnated in a particular job group. Promotion, redesignations and confirmation of nurses on contract is what the county can do for us to honour him,” Opetu said.
Ongeri was buried at his home in Nyamira on Friday.
edited by peter obuya