Kenyan chief threatens legal action, after officials exhume man’s remains to remove service uniform

Tongues have been sent wagging in the western part of Kenya after officials exhumed the body of a local man just to strip him of the uniform he was buried in.

According to reports, the late Martin Shikuku Alukoye was buried in his full Kakamega County Youth Service uniform after drowning this month, which did not go down well with his former employers.

His body was later exhumed from his grave site by officials of the County Youth Service following an order, despite opposition of the family of late Martin, who said the officials carried out the act without their permission or a court order.

According to Martins’ uncle, the officials had violated “the laws of the land and the laws of our forefathers”.

READ ALSO: Lawyers raise alarm over rise in arrest, deportation of foreign teachers in China

“We had fully involved the county government in the burial arrangements and they never resisted our proposal to bury [him] in his work regalia,” Francis Mutamba said, according to the Daily Nation newspaper.

The assistant chief of the Ituti area, Daniel Namayi, condemned the exhumation as he threatened legal action against the officers.

“Once a body has been buried, it requires anyone with a complaint to get a court order in order to exhume it. The county administrators have gone against the law in recovering [the] clothing,” he told the Daily Nation.

Join the conversation

Opinions

Support Ripples Nigeria, hold up solutions journalism

Balanced, fearless journalism driven by data comes at huge financial costs.

As a media platform, we hold leadership accountable and will not trade the right to press freedom and free speech for a piece of cake.

If you like what we do, and are ready to uphold solutions journalism, kindly donate to the Ripples Nigeria cause.

Your support would help to ensure that citizens and institutions continue to have free access to credible and reliable information for societal development.

Donate Now