• Kajembe’s four children on Monday confirmed that their two parents died of Covid-19.
• Sonko posted on his official Facebook account Kagwe’s remarks and attached photos of Kajembe’s burial.
The family of the late Changamwe MP Ramadhan Kajembe on Monday gave Health CS Mutahi Kagwe 14 days to apologise over remarks he made about one of them or face legal action.
Kagwe is quoted saying that one of Kajembe’s son infected his parents with Covid-19. Kajembe’s first wife, Aziza, died of Covid-19 on July 24. His second wife had died in March. The cause of the second wife's death was not made public.
On August 7, 76-year-old Kajembe died of Covid-19 at Pandya Memorial Hospital. He was buried on Saturday in accordance with Ministry of Health guidelines.
Kajembe’s four children on Monday confirmed that their two parents died of Covid-19. However, the family is bitter about Kagwe’s remarks.
Kagwe said," The son refused to self-isolate, which led to the infection of his sister and parents. As we speak, this family has lost the one elderly family member, the head of the household just two weeks after burying his mother.”
Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko also posted on his official Facebook account Kagwe’s remarks and attached photos of Kajembe’s burial.
Kajembe’s children — Harun Kajembe, Sudi Kajembe, Mohammed Kajembe, Fatma Kajembe — and their brother- in-law Mabruk Juma said Kagwe and Sonko should apologise within the next 14 days over the remarks.
They threatened to take legal action if an apology is not made.
“Death is inevitable. It is very sad that the Cabinet Secretary will accuse our brother of killing our parents. You can only imagine the kind of stigma this has brought to our family,” Harun said.
He said their brother tested positive for the coronavirus, but he was immediately isolated in one of the hospitals in Mombasa.
“Our brother got his results and was immediately isolated. He never came back home. Our brother’s conscience is clear,” Harun said.
Fatma said family members are still grieving and the CS should have never made such remarks. “Let us mourn in peace,” she said.
Sudi, who is now the head of the family because he is the eldest son, said it is sad that they have lost all their parents to Covid-19.
“We are not saying that we did not get infection. We have lost our parents, but we do not want anyone to blame any member of our family for it,” he said.
Mohammed said Kajembe left behind 16 children.
He said their businesses will be affected if they are labelled 'the corona family'.
“We ask the Cabinet Secretary to withdraw the statement. There is a lot of stigmatisation,” he said.
Edited by A.N