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Hundreds mourn as Omanga's body gets home

Hundreds of Kisii residents turned out at Gusii Stadium to pay their last respects to former Cabinet minister Andrew John Omanga, whose body arrived in the town yesterday.

The body arrived at the Suneka airstrip from Nairobi at 9.05 am, accompanied by Mr Omanga’s two widows, Clare and Grace. The cortege stopped at various trading centres throughout Nyaribari Chache and Nyaribari Masaba constituencies for the public to view the body.

Later, a requiem mass was held at Christ the King church at Nyansiongo. Until his death, Mr Omanga was the Kisii Kanu branch chairman. He was MP for Nyaribari Chache for 12 years, before stepping down for the current MP, Ford Kenya leader Simeon Nyachae in 1992. Before joining politics, Mr Omanga was a long-serving civil servant, having joined public service at Independence. He served as permanent secretary for many years. Mr Omanga, who died aged 72, will be buried tomorrow at his Nyansiongo home.