The funeral procession for the late President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta on August 31, 1978. [Photo: nation.co.ke]According to Wikipedia, a state funeral is a public ceremony observing strict rules of protocol held to honour heads of State or other people of national significance.State funerals usually include pomp and ceremony as well as religious overtones and distinctive elements of military tradition.Generally, state funerals are held to involve the public in a national day of mourning.They are often very rare and Kenya has only accorded few individuals this privilege since her independence in 1963.On Wednesday, the government announced that it will accord the late Nyeri Governor Dr Wahome Gakuru a state funeral. Gakuru died on Tuesday following a grisly road accident at Kabati along Muranga-Thika road.However, apart from Gakuru, here are 3 more Kenyans to have been accorded State funerals.Jomo Kenyatta. It was the first state funeral in independent Kenya. It took place on August 31, 1978. Kenyatta’s body lay in state for 10 days and national mourning lasted for one month. Hundreds of thousands of people viewed the body and on one day about 90,000 people saw it, according to media reports at the time.Kijana Wamalwa: The Kenya's 8th vice-president state funeral took place on September 6, 2003. He was buried at his Milimani home in Kitale complete with elaborate cultural rites though the government had offered Heroes Corner at Uhuru gardens.Finally, Wangari Mathai. The funeral service for the late Nobel peace winner was held at the country’s symbol of independence, Uhuru Park on October 7, 2011. She was later cremated according to her will and the ashes interred at the Wangari Maathai Institute of Peace and Environment Studies at the University of Nairobi’s Kabete campus.

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