Mathare Member of Parliament Anthony Oluoch has said that the decision by a section of kin of the late Kibra MP Ken Okoth to not take the body to Homa Bay county is justifiable.
Before his cremation on Saturday, there were plans for the body to be ferried to his maternal home in Kabondo Kasipul for viewing before being returned to Nairobi.
However, the same never happened, with Kenyans on Saturday waking up to reports that the body had already been cremated early in the morning at the Kariokor crematorium.
But Oluoch now says that the change of heart came following the information that the body would not be allowed back to Nairobi once in Kabondo, and would have been forcefully buried there.
Speaking on Tuesday, the lawmaker revealed that the section of the family in support of the cremation caught wind of plans to hijack the body, especially by locals and the other section of kin opposed to the cremation.
"Ile makubaliano eti ataenda nyumbani watu wamwone ilikatika kwa sababu mambo ilikuwa inatoka chini eti Ken akienda hangerudi (the agreement that he would be taken home for viewing and later brought back was suspended following reports that Ken would not be allowed back)," Oluoch said during an interview on Radio Maisha's Bunge La Maisha.
The MP said that this forced those close to the late MP to choose between either impressing his soul or his relatives, considering that he had indicated in his will that he be cremated upon death.
"Ilibidi wafuate matakwa ya mwenda zake ambayo iliwacha mama na familia nje. (they chose to follow his will, which left his mother and family out)," Oluoch noted.
The cremation came a week and a day after Okoth succumbed to cancer of the colon at the Nairobi Hospital.