A woman whose body has been lying at the Umash Funeral Home since September 2020 is finally set to be buried after the intervention of well wishers and extended members of her family.
The body of Yunia Bochaberi Oseko, 76, has been left in the cold just days after her death, almost, three years ago when one of the sons moved to the High Court seeking to stop the burial over a dispute about the parcel of land on which she would be interred. The deceased could not be buried earlier despite the court giving an order for her interment in April 2021 because one of the sons failed to cater for the funeral expenses.
The court had directed that Joseph Ngala Oseko, who had been the custodian of monies collected from wishers, offset the burial expenses from the money he had received from friends. However, the banker has never paid the bills due to the funeral home and to Equator Meridian Hospital where the deceased had been admitted before her death.
The hospital is claiming KSh619,057.29 for the time she was admitted at the Intensive Care Unit, while the morgue fees to date stands at KSh1,592,000.
Reports suggest Ngala, a senior manager at the Kenya Commercial Bank headquarters, was charged with receiving contributions from well wishers before the burial was stopped in November 2021. The amount he collected is not confirmed but he told Kurunzi that he only received “just KSh1.1 million”, disputing claims of a higher figure having come in through his MPESA number.
Unconfirmed reports on social media have suggested that well wishers’ contributions may have been in excess of KSh3 million, which information Kurunzi cannot independently verify since Ngala has declined to address that question.
Kurunzi can confirm that, contrary to allegations of there being a dispute over land where the deceased would be interred, there is no such reality as the parcel whose contention exists in court pertains to a different land.
Her eldest son, Patrick Lumumba, says they are now ready to bury their mother so that there can be closure and the family can move on.
“We have been waiting for way too long to have this matter end and I am happy that we are finally making this step so that Mama can be laid to rest through a befitting send-off,” Lumumba told Kurunzi, adding that the family would need the support of well wishers to “bury mum because it has been very painful and difficult since her death”.
“The committee is now in place and they will be communicating on the way forward once they confirm how much money is available and the deficit is so that our people can help us please.”
