Reports Le Odera Omolo.
FIGHTING broke out at a high profile and well attended funeral at Kendu-Bay town last Friday. The scuffles briefly sent the mourners scampered in all directions for their dear lives.
The chaotic situation erupted during the burial of a prominent business woman at Konyango Jieri village in Central Karachuonyo Location Homa-Bay County . It was during the tearful sending off of Mrs Pamela Atieno Ezra Odondi Opar ,the managing director of the Big Five chains hotels, which are located at Kendu Bay Town. Pamela was the wife of Ezra Odondi Opar also a businessman in the same Kendu Bay town, which is located only a kilometers from the funeral home.
The trouble started when the Homa-Bay County governor Cyprian Awiti had just arrived in the company of several members of the County executive committee {cabinet} and were being ushered in to sit at the VIP main dais.
A local politician who appeared to have taken one or two was politely requested by the master of the ceremony to push his seat a side at the dais to create space for more visitors [VIPs}. To be seated. The man called Wycliffe Odhiambo Ojijo flatly refused to follow the instruction prompting the ODM chairman in the constituency Tom Dolla to intervene. Instead the drunken man insulted Dola sparking off fist exchange of punches. Party youths and other mourners joined the fray and descended on the man with kicks and punches. He was beaten up savagely to the ground.
Earlier on the mourners had angrily booed and heckled the County nominated MCA Mrs Monica Amolo forcing her to cut the speech short and sit down. The had lunched scathing criticism of the Nairobi governor Dr.Evans Odhiambo Kidero by way of questioning the source of the huge sums of money he was dishing out at the various fund raising meetings in Luo-Nyanza. She said the LUOs were easily and readily accepting money without knowing its source and were therefore being bought cheaply.
Amolo who is an ODM official at the County branch said she had gone to the funeral place to represent her boss Senator Gerald Otieno Kajwang,’ who is the county branch chairman of the ODM, and heckled the county nominated MCA, Mrs Monica Amolo, forcing her to cut down her speech.
These remarks appeared not to have been taken lightly by the mourners who appears to be supporting Dr Kidero
Also in attendance were two prominent members of the Luo Council of Elders led by chairman Ker Meschack Riaga Ogalo and elder Nyandiko Ongadi. Don Opar an unsuccessful parliamentary aspirant, arachuono, in the March 4, 2013 election, Achills Gogo who contested the position of Deputy governor and Charles Ong’ondo Were another unsuccessful parliamentary aspirant for Kasipul seat in 2013.
Karachuonyo MP Eng James Rege appeared briefly at the funeral but left immediately after reporting that he was feeling unwell and therefore was being rushed to Nairobi to get quick medical treatment .
Also booed and asked to sit down was the perennial election loser in Karachuonyo Adipo Okuome who was given a chance to address the mourners, but instead said that he had won the March 2013 election but was robbed of his election victory. The crowd shouted back telling Okuome that he had lost the election because he was fairly defeated at the polls.This forced him to drop the microphone and sit down.
It was later established that homa-Bay Senator Otieno Kajwang’ was to attend the the burial of Mrs Odondi, but after surveying the area and discovered that the mood of the people and the area was that very hostile ground. He skipped it and instead sent Mra Amolo. Sen Kajwang; of late is having lean time and seemed to have lost touch with the peole in Homa-bay County following his recent recklessness in attacking the Nairobi governor Dr Kidero who has become the darling of the people in most parts of Luo-Nyanza.
Ends