The Law Society of Kenya (LSK), West Kenya branch has protested in the manner in which the body of COVID 19 pandemic patient was buried on Saturday night.
The branch chairperson Sam Onyango says the burial of James Oyugi, aged 59, who died on Saturday night in a hospital in Ukwala within Siaya Count was inhumane.
Onyango who addressed the press on Monday at the entrance of Kisumu High Court says they have sent a protest letter to the Ministry of Health questioning why the guidelines issued by the ministry were not followed.
Oyugi who is an employee of Kenya Ports Authority (KPA) in Mombasa had travelled home early this month before falling sick at his rural home in Ugenya Sub County.
He was admitted at a private hospital where he succumbed within hours and it was confirmed that he had Corona virus, a global pandemic that has continued to kill many people.
In a video that went viral, the deceased was put in body bags and driven to their home in the middle of the night in the company of three men who were in full protective suits.
The LSK official says the manner in which the body was seen tossed into a shallow grave with family members wailing in the background are traumatizing.
Onyango says family members are now stigmatized by the whole event since they were not involved.
He says the interment ought to have been conducted in accordance with the traditional respects and cultural requirements albeit with the COVID-19 preventive guidelines in line.
He says if the ministry fails to abide by its own guidelines then they will move to court to have them quashed.
