Otieno Kajwang to be given grand burial

At least 40 bulls and 100 goats and sheep will be slaughtered during the burial of Homa Bay Senator Otieno Kajwang on Friday, according to the burial committee.

Homa Bay governor Cyprian Awiti on Sunday said the burial will be a State function with the support of both the national and the county governments.

There will be viewing of the body at Kisumu’s Ofafa Hall on Thursday and during a stopover in Kendu Bay ahead of an interdenominational prayer service at the Homa Bay County Stadium.

Members of the Waondo community burial committee, led by chairman Martin Opere, said 600 hens and tilapia fish worth Sh50,000 will also be prepared to feed mourners.

Mr Opere said the expenses of the funeral will be met by Mr Kajwang’s friends and members of his Waondo clan.

Mr Opere was briefing Mr Awiti when he visited the late senator’s home to assess burial arrangements.

“Following consultations with a team from Nairobi, it was agreed that Waondo Primary School would be the venue for the burial ceremony on Friday,” Mr Opere said.

This came even as Waondo elders and close family members met over the controversy surrounding Mr Kajwang’s burial: claims by a Ms Faith Vivian Otieno that she was the senator’s other wife.

According to a family source, the elders are pushing for a truce between her and Mr Kajwang’s widow’s Dr Rose Otieno ahead of the burial “to prevent embarrassment”.

Ms Vivian claims she had two children with the late senator.