Family of musician Abenny Jachiga condemn his secret burial

@alalmaurice

The family of Ohangla musician Bernard Obonyo famously known as Abenny Jachiga has condemned how police handled his burial.

Abenny, 33, was buried by policemen on Friday night at 1.51am at Kadiju village in Chiga, Kisumu East subcounty. Only his brother Austine Omondi witnessed the burial.

The musician is survived by his widow Belinda Aluoch and five children- one boy and four girls. Three of the children were from his first marriage.

Abenny's mother Monica Auma, 55, said a postmortem was not done to establish the cause of death.

Auma said her son, the family's breadwinner, did not deserve such a burial.

“It is said he was buried at night like a thief. He did not die of the coronavirus,” she said.

She said they were kept indoors during the burial. "We were kept at bay. We only heard sounds and when we opened the door, we saw that he was being buried as the officers were on standby,” Auma said. She only went to the grave at 3am.

The body was removed from St Elizabeth hospital mortuary at 1am. He was identified by his brother Austine Omondi.

“I was called to go and identify the body of my brother. I went with four other people and brought the body back under police escort,” he said.

On Saturday morning, Abenny’s mother was forced to sit on the late musician's grave to block angry mourners from exhuming his body.

“I had to kneel down and sit on the grave just to beg them not to exhume the body,” Auma said.

The night burial was to ensure that the rowdy crowd that disrupted the burial process on Friday did not do so.

But the mourners still thronged the home on Saturday and threatened to exhume the body. They wanted a "decent" send-off the musician. 

Auma told them they would have to kill her to exhume her son from the grave.

Accompanied by her daughter-in-law, Belinda Aluoch, the two said they will not allow such a thing to happen.

"We want to give Abenny a decent burial, we cannot accept what was done here," some mourners were heard saying.

Abenny's village mates had accepted what transpired and noted that the musician should be left to rest in peace.

The mourners later dispersed from the home after family members pleaded with them to let them mourn in peace.

Abenny’s sister-in-law Lilian Okeyo termed the secret burial disrespectful to the family. “It is like you’re adding salt into a wound,” she said.

Okeyo said a request to the government to give them time to prepare for the burial was futile.

“We only wanted at least five days to complete Abenny’s house. But it was never granted,” she said.

Widow Aluoch, who hails from Nyakach subcounty, said the death has robbed them of their sole breadwinner.

She said the husband did not die of coronavirus. “We were told the samples taken for the test was negative,” Aluoch said.

“He has left a big gap in our family. I was not happy with how Ben was buried. But there was nothing we could do,” she said.

Aluoch asked her late husband’s fans to late him rest in peace.

She, however, appealed for well-wishers to help complete the building of her house as well as educate the five kids.

The county and national government, she said, should help her with the children. “I have nothing left to help me take care of my children,” Aluoch said.

Abenny, she said, was only sick for three days. “We were told he was suffering from Malaria and pneumonia,” Aluoch said.

Governor Anyang Nyong'o recently introduced tough new guidelines to regulate burials in the wake of growing Covid-19 infection numbers across the country.

Nyong'o said only five relatives would be allowed to accompany the body into any part of the county. Bodies must be buried within six hours upon arrival in the county.

The governor further directed that the removal of bodies from mortuaries across the county would be done not later than 9.30am and buried within six hours.

Nyong'o condoled with the family of the musician, saying he was an extremely talented artist who spent a lot of time mentoring upcoming musicians.

“The performing arts community has lost a real resource and by extension the county entertainment family. On behalf of the people of Kisumu county, the performing arts community, the people of Kolwa East, my family, and on my own behalf, I send my heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the departed," he said in a statement.

He added, "May the Almighty God rest his soul in eternal peace". On Thursday residents woke up to a rude shock following his death.

(edited by o. owino)