The family of a GSU officer who died and was buried in a church compound seek help from the Office of the Deputy County Commissioner in Rongo, Migori County, on April 11, 2025.
For eight months, Mr Julius Obura has made numerous attempts to exhume the body of his son, Dan Ayoo, from a church in Migori, and bury him in Nyando, Kisumu County.
Ayoo died under mysterious circumstances and was buried within a church compound in Rongo in Migori County without the knowledge of the family.
Mr Obura has vowed that only death will prevent him from getting the body of his son who died on March 27 this year, was hurriedly buried the following day at St Joseph Mission of Messiah in Africa Church in Opapo Village.
Malkio St Joseph Mission of Messiah in Africa Church in Opapo Villlage in Rongo in Migori County on April 22,2025.
The man said he is looking forward to the day when the body of his son will be exhumed from the grave and be buried at his home in K’Ochieng’ West in Nyando Sub-County.
But this is not possible at the moment since his daughter-in-law Lilian Atieno insists that the body of her husband must stay where it is.
Ayoo was a General Service Unit (GSU) officer in Nairobi.
When he joined the National Police Service, his family had great hopes in him. But the officer had a different plan. After moving out for work, he lost touch with his family.
“He would call and talk to some of his relatives, but he never visited us at home as we hoped,” Mr Obura said.
In December 2024, Mr Obura said he got information that his son was sick. This marked the beginning of his agonizing journey of trying to ask his son to go home.
The old man, just like the biblical prodigal son and his father, had offered to welcome the GSU officer back to his home.
“His house (simba) is still within my compound with everything in it,” the father said.
But all his efforts to locate Ayoo failed.
The family was only called when the officer had died. He was buried at the church.
Mr Obura and his family sought help from the office of Rongo Deputy County Commissioner to take the body to Kisumu for interment.
But since the burial was conducted in accordance with the law, with a burial permit issued, there was nothing the authorities could do.
“He is my son and should be buried at my compound,” Mr Obura said.
The death of the GSU officer opened another case. It turned out that the place where Ayoo had been buried was a graveyard for other people.
Police classified the church as a crime scene and ordered all worshipers to leave.
Since April, Mr Obura has been trying to get the body of his son exhumed from the church compound and be moved to Nyando.
Members of the public try to force their way into St Joseph Mission of Messiah in Africa Church in Opapo Village in East Kamagambo Location in Rongo Sub-county, Migori County on April 11, 2025.
He succeeded in his quest in August when Rongo Principal Magistrate Chrispin Orwo directed that the body be taken out of the grave.
The magistrate considered customary law when giving the directives, citing the famous S.M Otieno case where lawyer Silvano Maleo Otieno was buried at his ancestral home in Nyamial Village in Siaya County after a 30 years’ legal battle between his widow and his clan.
Mr Orwo said the unwritten rules exist in nearly all ethnic communities in Kenya and courts determine cultural issues using what different communities believe in.
“In Kenya, to resolve burial disputes, the courts have always considered customary law,” he said.
The magistrate said the court is guided by African customary law in civil cases in which one or more parties is subject to it or affected by it, as long as it does not disregard other laws.
In the Luo community, men are buried within their father’s home or at his home.
Mr Orwo said the deceased did not cease being a member of the community when he died, his burial should have just been conducted based on the beliefs of the community.
He also directed Ms Atieno to show the specific location where the body was buried. “That is very specific so that they don’t go and carry out random exhumation,” the magistrate said.
Within hours, the church moved to Migori High Court, which overturned the ruling.
This happened as Mr Obura was making arrangements to move the body from Rongo to Nyando.
His family is hoping for the best as the court in Migori is set to make a determination in the case at a later date.
Mr Bernard Acholla, the lawyer representing St Joseph Mission of Messiah in Africa, said the church has maintained its stand of burying Ayoo within the compound.
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