Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga wants communities to abandon the culture of ferrying dead bodies upcountry and instead opt for cremation or burial in urban areas.
There have been multiple cases in Kenya of positive people spreading Covid-19 when they travel back to their home areas for burials.
Desperate times require desperate solutions and Raila is right to call for burial or cremation in towns. It is too dangerous for mourners to travel across the country.
Cremation is frowned upon by many but it has one big advantage in these Covid days. The lockdown will not go on forever. Eventually, Kenyans will be free to travel upcountry whenever they wish.
After cremation, the relatives are given an urn containing the ashes of the departed one. That urn can be taken back upcountry after the lockdown ends so that the loved one can be buried at home.
In that sense, cremation is better than being buried in town. Then it is difficult for a body to be returned to the home village. With cremation, it is easy to bring back home the remains of a loved one.
Quote of the day: "The person who talks most of his own virtue is often the least virtuous."
Jawaharlal Nehru
The first Prime Minister of India died on May 27, 1964
