University students forced their way into the Nyangena mortuary in Kisii to get the body of former multiparty democracy fighter George Anyona, recalls a former student.
The body of former Kitutu Masaba MP who died in 2003 had been held at the hospital for six months due to court cases over alleged fraud of over Sh2.5 million for a women's group, a move that angered university students across the country.
And Mr Steve Ondimu on Monday during a visit to Mr Anyona’s homestead in Gatuta village, narrated how angry students literally beat up morgue attendants, got entry into the mortuary, took the body and subsequently ran away with it.
“As students we grew up knowing the pivotal role Anyona played in the multiparty democracy. We were angered with the manner in which his body was held in 'custody' due to alleged debts and hospital bills at the Nyang’ena Hospital,” he said.
“We took a bus from Kenyatta University and our colleagues from Egerton joined us. We broke the morgue and beat up morgue attendants before running away with the body in a hearse that the university had given us,” he added.
Ondimu further said the students chased all locals from Anyona’s homestead and dug the grave before burying one of the arguably Kenyans outspoken opposition leader.
“We didn’t allow anyone into the compound because the same locals had gone to court preventing his burial. We dug the grave and the entire homestead was a no go zone for outsiders,” he said.
Mr Anyona, an outstanding opposition MP was jailed at different times under the regimes of founding father Jomo Kenyatta and Daniel Moi after accusing the respective governments of dictatorship.