Outpouring of grief as coffins displayed

By NATION TEAM newsdesk@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Tuesday, July 23  2013 at  23:30

Hundreds of mourners on Tuesday thronged Gusii stadium for inter-denominational prayers for the 15 students and teachers who perished in the Itumbe-Nyamache road crash a fortnight ago.

Speakers during the inter-denominational prayers called for strict observance of traffic rules.

Mourners started arriving as early as 7am but they had to wait until 10.50 am when the caskets bearing the remains of the students and teachers who perished in the grisly road accident snaked in from Hema mortuary in ambulances with loud sirens.

The caskets bore a name tag and had pictures of the victims of the Nyambunde accident.

The mourners wailed and sobbed in groups as they witnessed the sight of the 15 bodies which lined up at the stadium.

Relatives of the deceased were overcome with grief while viewing the bodies and the Kenya Red Cross staff were on stand-by to assist those who fainted.

The master of ceremonies stopped further viewing of the bodies to allow dignitaries who included former Prime Minister Raila Odinga, cabinet secretary ICT Dr Fred Matiang’i and Education Principal secretary Colleta Suda and Gusii elected leaders to view the body.

As various leaders eulogised the deceased and consoled bereaved families, mourners who attended the service turned the occasion into a political rally.

However, some leaders had a difficult time addressing the crowd due to heckling and jeering from the irate mourners who had taken sides by booing or jeering Jubilee or Cord leaders depending on which side they supported.

According to residents their anger was compounded after President Uhuru Kenyatta, who was expected to grace the occasion, failed to attend.
Security officers controlling the unruly crowd were overwhelmed as the crowd moved up to the podium.

However when prime minister Raila Odinga arrived, mourners demanded that he address them. Shouts of “baba”, “Agwambo” rent the air as he moved to the main dais and took his seat.

Former education minister Prof Sam Ongeri had a rough time calming the crowd. He rebuked the hecklers saying that the community had inherited cultures that will be detrimental to the Kisii society.

Ndhiwa MP Agostino Neto asked the mourners to unite and desist from hate speech and heckling in public forums.

Cabinet Secretary ICT Dr Fred Matiang’i who represented the president, said that the government had cleared all the bills for the deceased, and those still in hospital.

“The government has been standing with bereaved families throughout the period, it has been a difficult moment for the country to loose such a big number of people at a time,” he said.

Dr Matiang’i warned the residents to stop the habits of jeering other people in public functions. “We should learn to accommodate one another, you should show respect to your leaders and give them a chance to speak despite ones political affiliation,” Dr Matiang’i said.

Knut chairman Wilson Sossion asked the government to ensure that the families of the teachers and students who lost their lives in the line of duty are compensated.