A funeral is held so that friends and family can pay their last respects to a person that they loved.
To love and to respect a person is one thing but should families leave themselves in precarious financial positions simply because they want to give their kin the perfect send off?
Reports of families running broke after committing too much on a burial have become all to familiar at times leading to serious conflict or the family being forced to sell prized assets to cater for the costs.
This in turn has yielded an opportunity for insurance companies which now have funeral expenses cover in their portfolio.
On Monday, a funeral was almost bungled after one group involved in the planning of the burial accused the other of embezzling funds set aside to purchase a quality casket to bury their late friend,Paul Ouma who was also the Narok Luo community chairperson.
Drama ensued at the Narok Referral Hospital Mortuary when the opposing members commandeered the funeral procession back after reaching Narok Town situated a few kilometres from the morgue.
The disgruntled lot claimed that the casket brought by Moses Owiga of Rachuonyo home welfare was cheap and not the quality the two sides had agreed on while planning for the burial.
{Read: New report shows the world is more angry, sad and stressed}
The irate members then led the procession back to the morgue demanding back cash or a new casket worth Ksh22,000 and not Ksh8,000 as per the monies raised during the fundraiser for the funeral.
However, the chairman Joseph Oreko cleared the air showing relevant cost receipts saying it was unfortunate the drama had unfolded due to a seemingly low quality casket which cost Ksh25,000 but the deceased’s family and the Oreko commitee agreed on a bigger casket costing Ksh28,000.
Oreko condemned the opposing group for disrespecting a former chairman by raising false accusations during his burial preparations.
Finally, the procession then left peacefully for Rachuonyo village where the remains of their late chairman will be interred.
Ouma passed on two weeks ago after a short illness.
{See also: Unpaid allowances still haunting Kenyan sports}
While the amount spent on the casket was the bone of contention, insufficient funds could have been the underlying factor leading to the scuffle.
African culture dictates that family must remember the dead fondly and giving them a proper send off is the first step in that process.
There are many more similar cases but should Africans accept that after burials, life must move on and become more prudent while handling funerals?
1 Comment