Kitale: Drama as corpse ‘refuses’ to go home for burial

Businesses came to a standstill along Kenyatta Street in Kitale Central Business District (CBD) when a Mercedes Benz hearse carrying the remains of a prominent business person failed to move, attracting people who came to witness the bizarre event.

Speaking to K24 digital, an eyewitness said the scene lasted for over thirty minutes and many people were shocked to witness the unusual event.

The body was later removed from the high-end German machine and transferred to a simple Toyota Hilux hearse and the procession led by a Salvation Army Band continued.

“We are reeling in shock because we have never experienced such kind of events in this town. Once in a while we watch such incidents on TV stations and listen to them on the radio,” an eyewitness stated.

Philemon Simotwo, a businessman in Kitale, said it is not known why the black Benz operated by a funeral Services Company broke down.

“I am still wondering why the hearse stopped here in Kitale CBD. The hearse had travelled all the way from the morgue and when it was about to arrive at the business premises of the late businessman, it just failed to move,” Simotwo said.

Ken Mutai, an M-Pesa operator, ruled out any mystery and said the Benz probably had some mechanical problems.

“I don’t want to believe what some people are saying that the body refused to be taken home. A mechanical problem is a possibility and therefore what happened is not bizarre to me” Mutai said.

A Bukusu elder who spoke to K24 Digital on condition of anonymity gave a cultural interpretation of the incident.

“The body might have refused to be taken home probably because the person behind his death was within the vicinity, or that some of his wishes had not been fulfilled; perhaps the deceased did not want to be carried on an expensive vehicle or did not want to arrive home early,” he said.

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