Comprehensive burial characterised by several days of mourning and lavish ceremonies complete with an expensive coffin is a tradition that the Luo community holds close to their hearts.
Although modernity has consumed some of the cultural practices that the community also embraced, including Tero Buru, a celebration involving cows with bells hanging around their necks and chants, most burial ceremonies are still comprehensive.
They take massive planning and mobilisation of resources, to the tune of millions depending on the wealth of a family, and is always a show of opulence.
Last weekend’s burial of Chief of Defense Forces Francis Ogolla, however, opens another lid on the growing trend in the region embraced by powerful families and, inked in the power of a will left by the deceased.
Ogolla was buried within 72 hours his passing and it was a ceremony devoid of what the region is accustomed to.
There were no tents for catering and no parade of bulls slaughtered to serve the thousands of mourners like it is always the norm in most funerals in the region.
On the flip side, Ogolla was also buried without a coffin as per his wishes and a strict burial programme was adhered to, effectively locking out the lengthy tributes from in-laws, extended families, or elders.
This was his decision and is an integral part of the desires he had wanted his family to abide by in the event of his demise. In this part of the world, the tributes, especially from the wife of a deceased or other close relatives is always a climax that most mourners always await with bated breath.
The burial, however, highlighted the growing trend of burials that have gone against traditions in the region, while respecting the will of the deceased.
Most of the ceremonies have been successful, albeit with whispers of disgruntlement from members of the community who feel such send-offs is an insult to the deceased.
Here, burials are almost incomplete if it is not comprehensive to fit the definition of a celebration of life.
This forms part of the reasons the Luo Council of Elders are considering cleansing Ogolla’s grave in what they describe as a traditional send-off.
The move highlights the power of a will and how it influences burials, even if it means going against traditions and long-held cultural practices.
In the recent past, a number of prominent Luos in the region have been buried against traditions with some cremated, while others buried within a short period of their demise.
This was the case with former Kibra MP Ken Okoth who was cremated.
At the time, sections of members of the family told The Nairobian that they did not recognise cremation. Okoth was cremated at Nairobi’s Kariokor cemetery in a ceremony shrouded in intrigues and secrecy.
While some members of the family claimed the type of burial was chosen by Okoth through his will, others and elders claimed that it was against the Luo traditions.
Several elders told The Nairobian that the community could be slowly losing its culture because of the power of the will which has allowed people to decide their sending off. Interviews with several elders established that there are fears, the power of the will is slowly eroding the culture of the community.
Jotham Onduu, a member of the Luo Council of Elders in Kisumu, thinks the wills affect the Luo traditions.
The elder says a will can contain things that are considered abominable in Luo culture.
“When you are alive or dead, you belong to the community. We used to do everything in a meeting (duol) and as a people,” Onduu says. According to the elder, they used to have a lot of consultations before someone could decide on what happened to his property or his body when he died.
“But nowadays people don’t consult and write what they think in the will. That results to abominable things which are not in Luo traditions,” Onduu says.
Luo Council of Elders chairman Odungi Randa says, in the past, Luos did not write a will but instead, a man would just distribute his wealth by calling all his wives and children together.
He believes writing wills have brought family feuds in the present time.
“In the past, someone would even be buried within 48 hours and there would not be much complication during the burial,” Mzee Odungi said. Baraza Lwero, who is a member of the Suba Council of Elders, says a will can affect the Luo traditions.
“When someone writes a will, the distribution of wealth might leave out some key beneficiaries who would have been considered important in their inheritance,” Lwero says.
Cremation as a final rite first became the subject of intense public debate in Kenya following the 1996 death of Peter Okondo – a prominent Busia politician who had served as a Cabinet minister in then President Daniel arap Moi’s government. Like Okoth, Okondo was married to a white woman who oversaw the cremation of his body, sparking a bitter family feud and sent shock waves in his native Busia village. Mrs Okondo’s plea that she had only acted to fulfill her husband’s wish fell on deaf ears, especially among his Banyala subtribe who had known burial as the only method of internment.
Similar controversy also rocked former Kenya National Sports Council chairman Joshua Okuthe’s family following his death and subsequent cremation in 2009.
Okuthe’s sister Deborah Odhiambo and a woman, who claimed to be his second wife, Ms Zawadi Hadija Issa, went to court to stop the planned cremation of his body.
The duo wanted Okuthe buried at his Tamu farm in Muhoroni.
During the Covid-19 period in 2020, the rushed burials of some of the people who succumbed to the disease sparked an uproar among residents.
So bad was the situation that an attempt by police officers to force a rushed burial of the late Ohangla star Abenny Jachiga resulted into running battles with residents who tried to stop the burial.
Jachiga’s body was later buried deep in the night in the presence of heavily armed police officers and in the presence of only his brother.
It took the persuasion of several leaders to discourage his village mates from exhuming the body to conduct a fresh burial.
The burial of James Onyango, a Covid victim, also sparked an uproar after he was buried without a coffin.
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