Disbelief as Kisii police demand burial bribe – Weekly Citizen

Kisii county commander of police Jebel Ngere has thwarted attempts by police in Nyamarambe in Gucha South to demand Sh35,000 from a family of a deceased person before they can be allowed to bury his remains. The family of the late David Omweri in Mwondari village, Ikoro sublocation within Marongo location who had struggled with tuberculosis for 16 years were shocked when the Nyamarambe OCS David Orinah told them to part with the amount to cater for fuel and postmortem expenses. Led by his brother Simeon Mauti and sister Wildah Nyabwari, the family through lawyer Peter Nyandika said that there was no complaint on the late Saisi who was a stone crusher in the area, because he had died peacefully while in his house.

Jebel Ngere

The family now wants National Police Service chairperson Eliud Kinuthia and Inspector General of police Hilary Mutyambai to investigate and discipline the rogue officers tarnishing the force image in the eye of the public. It is alleged that the area chief Joseph Manyara had called the police after learning of his death on March 27 last month who came and took the body to Tabaka Mission Hospital mortuary where they signed the remains as a police case. The family members had gone to the OCS the following day with instructions from the officers who took the body to the mortuary where they gave him an envelope of Sh3,000, but he reportedly turned them away maintaining that they must bring the full amount of Sh35,000.

Eliud Kinuthia

It is then that they sought the services of a lawyer who protested the matter to the county police commandant who then ordered the Nyamarambe officer commanding police division to solve the matter amicably. There was a sigh of relief for the deceased’s widow Mary Monyenche and her five children as they were allowed to take the body home for burial without paying a single coin with the family members conducting his final ceremony on Friday April 3 2020 which was boycotted by the provincial administration.