Papa Shirandula's widow: Hospital didn't do all the tests

Charles Bukeko's widow Beatrice Andega (centre) eulogises her husband.  [Courtesy, Standard]

The widow of actor and comedian Charles Bukeko, alias Papa Shirandula, has complained that a hospital didn't conduct all tests she wanted on her husband.

Speaking today morning during the burial of the actor in his Busia home, Beatrice Andega said there was a delay in attending the patient as the hospital prepared.

“Admission was just another process. I’m telling them he needs support and an emergency. The time they are still preparing he passed on when I was with him in the vehicle. He was not even admitted. He passed on seated in the car,” painfully said Mrs Bukeko.

The family confirmed that the TV comedian started feeling sick after returning to Nairobi and went for a checkup a hospital where he tested positive for Covid-19.

However, Bukeko's widow says that three tests were supposed to be done in order to firm the diagnosis.

The actor’s father has also expressed doubt that his son died from Covid-19 and has said he will seek more answers from the hospital once they get back to Nairobi.

Bukeko’s body arrived in Busia County at 3 am in the morning escorted by two buses ferrying mourners. In line with the Covid-19 containment regulations, the mourners were received by health officials, screened and prevented from interacting with the locals. 

Bukeko was buried in a brief burial ceremony under high security at his  Busia home. Mourners were immediately asked to leave the compound after the ceremony ended.

The actor will be remembered for his hilarious stunts of playing a watchman in Papa Shirandula moving appearances in leading commercial adverts and as the happy face of Kenyan comedy for many decades.