When burial right is denied

It is said that it is possible to change everything about people, but not easy to change their core beliefs. When one is born and brought up in a culture that detects his way of operation, then it is not something easy to go by. To effect the change you want to a culture it will really take you some effort and time. What is a belief in one culture could be just a mere talk in another cultural setup. So it depends on where one comes from. No matter how educated you are, no matter the amount of money you have, and no matter how widely you have traveled culture must be respected by all.

Recently I witnessed a strange case that kept me thinking and at a given point threw me off the balance. One of my close friends from the lakeside whom I will refer to by the name Onyango for security purposes lost an aunt last month through a terminal illness. The aunt passed away in Nairobi hospital. As usual burial arrangements were made and at that time everybody was to be informed. With technology that came with ease, all the relatives were informed. The family members convened and set a date for the burial of their loved one.

Everything was now set and it was only four days remaining for the daughter of Alego to be given a befitting burial by the kinsmen. The body of this daughter of Alego was moved from the mortuary and a funeral service conducted in one of the big churches in the city in readiness for the body to be transported to the village. People came in their numbers to pay their tribute to their friend, workmate, boss, church member, and former classmate.

Unfortunately something strange unfolded after the requiem mass, the daughter to dead defied all odds and did the unimaginable. After the mass, through hired goons, she went away with the mother's body for cremation. There was such a drama in the church compound as the rest of the family members fought Akinyi to take back the body of one of their own for burial. Akinyi having hatched a good plan, managed to do her will.

Some of the elders cried like small babies heating the ground with their walking sticks hurling curses to Akinyi, who had arrived in the country a few days from the UK. All and sundry were robbed off their expression and just watched in despair.