Lawyer Miguna Miguna was shocked when his mock funeral was held in Nyando in 2012. This came after he had released a book titled Peeling Back the Mask, which criticised ODM Party leader Raila Odinga.
Miguna was furious because the opposition leader failed to restrain his supporters from conducting the ceremony, arguing that a statesman should support reasoned dialogue.
“Chillingly, as my effigy and ‘coffin’ were being burnt and buried in a mock funeral in Nyando by Raila’s fanatics, the Prime Minister failed to see the need to restrain his supporters. He didn’t openly call for peaceful and reasoned debates as we would expect of someone claiming to be a statesman," Miguna said as reported by the Standard.
The former Nairobi gubernatorial candidate hit out at Raila's supporters, accusing them of ignorance and intolerance and urged them to read the book before taking to the streets to protest.
“When I see ravenous mobs burn my effigy, bury a coffin symbolizing my death and threatening me, my immediate and extended family merely because I wrote a book that they perceive to be critical of their political deity even though, in all likelihood, they might not have read; it demonstrates a level of intolerance, ignorance and base loyalty to certain political personages in a manner that cannot be positive," he added.