The Siaya county government has been enjoined in a case in which the family of a Caovid-19 victim wants him exhumed for proper burial.
Siaya High Court Judge Roseline Aburili on Friday directed the family's lawyer Otieno Ambala to amend the petition and include the county's health executive.
She said it was only fair the county is included because health is a devolved function.
The case was adjourned to April 24 and the lawyer asked to serve the respondents including the Attorney General in "the next three days"
The ruling followed an application by deputy chief state counsel, Janet Lang’at, on behalf of the Attorney General, who asked the court for more time to respond to the petition by the family of James Oyugi Onyango.
The former Kenya Ports Authority employee died from coronavirus and was hastily buried on April 11 without a coffin.
The family has petitioned the court that Oyugi be exhumed and accorded a decent burial.
They sued Ukwala location chief, the Health Cabinet Secretary and the Attorney General. They asked the court to order the respondents to bear the cost of both the petition and the exhumation.
Lang’at said the Attorney General was only served on the night of April 15 and that the office did not have time to contact the county government of Siaya for details and support documents, given that health was a devolved function.
“It was not possible to get witness statements and relevant material to draft response within eight hours,” she said.
Ambala and the Law Society of Kenya advocate Sam Onyango said the matter was urgent and urged the court to expeditiously deal with it.
Ambala said delays in determining the matter may affect the results of the autopsy that the family was praying for.
Edited by Peter Obuya
