Among many communities in Kenya, there seems to be an unwritten rule on how to inform close relatives about the death of a kin. In a village in Rift Valley where I grew up, there is a tendency to have elders present when a family member has died to ask relatives who are far to come home and address an urgent matter.
Where the said relative has been in hospital for some time, the relations are told to hurry to the hospital because the patient’s condition is deteriorating and the said relations are needed to help make a decision for transfer or authorise a procedure or another. Generally, people don’t like telling or being told that a relative is dead and would rather a delayed process.