Chaos as police block burial party

Nyamira Town was a no-go zone for the better part of Wednesday as police battled university students and villagers involved in a burial dispute.

Sources said Mr Duclain Mogaka was to be buried at Lang’ata cemetery in Nairobi last week but some Kenyatta University students and villagers blocked the function, insisting that he be buried next to his mother.

Mr Mogaka’s foster father Zedekia Agata said he did not want the man buried in his home because he was not his son and was an adult when he married his mother.

University students

Trouble started when the university students, who were carrying the casket, were blocked by anti-riot officers. Chaos broke out when a section of the crowd started pelting the security officers with stones, prompting them to shoot in the air and use tear gas.

Several police officers and civilians were injured in the stampede that paralysed transport along the Nyamira-Kisii road for several hours.