Late Homa Bay Senator Otieno Kajwang’ send-off plan ready

Preparations for the burial of the late Homa Bay Senator Otieno Kajwang', to be held on Friday, have almost been finalised.

At Waondo Polytechnic grounds where various dignitaries are expected to land with choppers, renovation works are in top gear and the same is replicated at the adjacent parking bay where hundreds of cars are going to be parked.

A grader was at work for the better part of the day, working on the terrain to ensure parking will not be a problem, with the work being supervised by area Assistant Chief Jacob Oreng'.

"We expect many vehicles that day and this area has been secluded to ensure all cars are catered for and will adequately be manned by traffic police," Mr Oreng' said.

At the late senator's home, a number of youths were busy working on the grave under the supervision of Benson Oswago, vice chairman of the funeral organising committee.

BEFITTING SEND-OFF

When The Standard team arrived, there were arguments over the grave's construction and the building team was instructed to dismantle the grave structure, which was found to be of low standard and size.

"The senator deserves a decent, spacious grave, not this kind of thing," Mr Oswago said.

Oswago said about 60 cows and 50 goats are expected to be slaughtered to feed the mourners, who are expected to turn up in large numbers.

"So far, we have received 21 bulls and 50 goats but we still expect many more are coming. The number of cows in the budget is likely to increase if the number of visitors escalates because we are ready to ensure that feeding takes place successfully," Oswago said.

The funeral service will be conducted at Waondo Primary school.

While this was going on at the late senator's home, governor Cyprian Awiti was playing host to executives, legislators, officers of the Orange Democratic Movement and religious leaders at his office where they met to deliberate and put in place modalities to ensure Kajwang' is accorded a decent send-off.

"We held this collective meeting to enable us make consultations with various county leaders and chart the way forward on how we as leaders can give the late Kajwang' a decent send-off," Awiti told the Press.

The governor said both the county government and the national government are going to join hands in contributions to make the senator's burial successful.

He said the Government is going to cater for a casket, a big tent, transport for the body from Nairobi and a public address system while the county government will provide food and resources for preparing the grave and other minor arrangements.

"I want to thank the Government for its generosity in providing these resources to us. Kajwang' was our resource mobiliser in the Government and a leader of outstanding qualities and we must bury him in a manner that befits him," the governor said.

He called on leaders from Nyanza region to join hands in the preparation exercise to make the function a success.