Fred Gumo rejects elders’ rituals as Jirongo’s body arrives in Kitale
By Mustafa Juma, December 28, 2025Former Westlands MP Fred Gumo, who chairs the funeral committee of the late former Lugari MP Cyrus Jirongo, has publicly rejected the involvement of Tiriki elders in certain funeral traditions, insisting that Jirongo’s family should follow their own customs and not be pressured into unfamiliar rituals.
Speaking on Sunday, December 28, 2025, as Jirongo’s body arrived at his Kitale home, Gumo emphasised that the late politician’s immediate family, including his children and grandchildren, should have the first say in how the funeral rites are conducted.
He disagreed with the Tiriki elders who had reportedly wanted to enforce a ceremonial entry for Jirongo’s body through a temporary gate created at the backyard of the home, to honour longstanding customs.
Gumo-Tiriki elders’ standoff
According to Gumo, the Tiriki elders had insisted while at the airport that if Jirongo’s body was not going to enter the home through the temporary gate, they would leave. However, he says that he told them off.
“Let us not mistreat Cyrus. Hapa ni kwake. Tulikuwa airport, wakatuletea hii maneno ati wazee wamekaa huko wakasema lazima wafungue gate ingine. Mimi mwenyewe niliwakataza, wakasema ati kama Cyrus haingilii kule nyuma, wataenda. Unfortunately, we didn’t have any elders from here, but anyway, vile sasa mimi najua, Cyrus is not a child; ako na boma yake na watoto wake, na wajukuu,” Gumo said.
He went ahead to argue that the body of someone of Jirongo’s stature should enter the home through the main gate, get to the house, and have the family view the body before allowing the rest of the mourners to view it.
“Akifika kwa boma yake kama hapa anaingilia kwa gate yake, anaingizwa ndani ya nyumba kwanza, watoto wake na familia yake wanafunguliwa mwili wanaangalia kwanza. Familia pekee yake ndani ya nyumba, alafu tukishamaliza mambo ya familia, that is now when we can ask kama kuna mahali kwingine ambapo watu wengine wanaweza kufanya body viewing,” he added.
Outdated customs
He also insisted that some of the customs being suggested were outdated and no longer widely practised.
“Let us have order. Na tafadhali, hii kimila ambayo mnasema ni ya watiriki ilikuwa ya zamani; hata kule kwetu walikuwa nayo, but nobody is doing it anymore. Hawa watoto wanajua kimila ati baba yao anafaa kupitishwa kwa msitu huko? Watajua ni kwanini inafanyika? Ndugu na watoto wa Cyrus, don’t allow to be pushed na mila ambazo hamjui,” Gumo reiterated.
Traditional burial ritual context
Among the Luhya community, the practice refers to how the body of a murder victim is brought into the homestead for burial.
For someone who died of murder, the body is not brought through the main gate of the compound.
Instead, a new, temporary opening is created in the fence, or a new gate for that purpose has to be created through the fence.
Once the body has passed through this temporary opening, it is immediately closed up in a ceremony, often involving the slaughter of a black sheep.
This is done to keep the spirit of murder away from the family and community and to ensure the spirit does not linger or cause further harm.
This ritual is a symbolic act meant to sever ties between the living and the negative circumstances of the death, ensuring the deceased’s spirit goes away completely and never appears to anyone in the family.