Angry traders block burial of butcher who died in fire incident

Drama ensued at Kiawara trading centre in Kieni constituency, Nyeri county after thousands of traders blocked a motorcade ferrying the remains of one of their own who perished a week ago following a fire incident and was scheduled to be buried on Tuesday, July 23, 2024.

The angry mourners blocked the hearse carrying the remains of Charles Chomba who was a butcher at Kiawara, and forcefully removed the casket and took it to Kiawara police station demanding the arrest of his wife whom they accused of having a hand in his death.

They also went to the home of the deceased, covered the grave with soil, planted a banana tree and demanded that the body be taken back to the morgue and a fresh postmortem carried out.

The irate traders also demanded the immediate arrest of the suspect.

“We want to clearly state that there is no burial going to take place until we get to know the truth on what caused Chomba’s death,” Samuel Musyoka said.

The traders also demanded the removal of all police officers from the station accusing them of not carrying out investigations, yet this was the third incident taking place in the area.

“This is the third incident of people dying under mysterious circumstances and the moment they are buried, no investigations are carried out and therefore we are not going to bury him until we know the truth of what caused his death,” Musyoka said.

Attempts by Chomba’s son to plead with the crowd to allow the family to lay their father to rest fell on deaf ears as the angry traders stood to their ground that the businessman would only be laid to rest once proper investigations were carried out properly and the proper results are released to them.

“I am pleading with you to allow us the family to bury our father today as we had planned and you can later seek the justice you are demanding,” his son pleaded with the mourners.

However, the businesspeople shouted him down and told him that they were also interested parties and the deceased also belonged to the larger community and therefore they would not allow the burial to take place under any circumstances.

Thuo Mathenge a prominent businessman who had joined the traders in demanding justice told the family that the deceased was part of the business community and therefore they must help them get justice.

“Chomba also belongs to the community and therefore we must take part in demanding his justice for now we will book for a pathologist to conduct a fresh postmortem and the body will be preserved at the Nyeri funeral home until the investigations are conducted,” he said.

The angry traders later put the casket on the police vehicle as the family watched helplessly and demanded that the police arrest the deceased’s wife.

“On the fateful night when the fire incident happened, the wife to the deceased went three times at the butchery where he was working asking him to go home only for the incident to happen, how did it happen that everything in the house was salvaged and the wife also came out safe. We suspect foul play and we are demanding answers,” Eunice Warukira said.

Kieni West sub-county police commander Samuel Ndegwa obliged the demands of the traders and promised to carry out investigations and arrest those culpable.

The body was later taken to Nyeri Funeral Home as investigations commenced.