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Families fight over burial of Kenyans murdered in US

Details

Published on Saturday, 13 November 2010 02:34

A battle has erupted in the United States between two Kenyan families over the burial of their three relatives who were killed in a domestic brawl.

The dispute is between Danvas Omare, a brother to Bilha Ogendi who was killed together with her two children Kinley Isaboke Ogendi, and Ivyn Bosibori Ogendi, and Evans Kebabe, a brother to Bilha’s husband, Justus Ogendi.

On the one hand, Omare wants the State of Minnesota to hand over to him the bodies of the slain victims so that he can burry them in New Jersey, while on the other, Kebabe wants the bodies shipped to Kenya for burial in their ancestral home in Kisii.

The dispute has threatened to further polarise two families already suspicious of each other and might possibly derail the burial arrangements of the domestic violence victims.

The killings have left many Kenyan immigrants and Americans shocked.

Omare, who lives in New Jersey, does not see any need of sending the three bodies to Kenya.

However, Kebabe who lived with his brother and the slain victims

in Minnesota, argues that his family has the right to decide where the deceased should be buried and must be in accordance with the customary laws of Abagusii.

Kebabe contends that according to the Kisii customary law, the deceased, who was duly married in accordance with Abagusii customs, should be buried at her matrimonial home in Nyaribari Chache, by her in-laws.

He says that the payment of dowry in a marriage rules out the in-laws from taking the body of a sister irrespective of the circumstances of her death to bury her outside her matrimonial home when her father in-law and brothers in-law are alive.

Kebabe has accused his brother in-law, Omare, of taking advantage of the State Law of Minnesota to claim his legitimacy to have exclusive rights to receive and transport the bodies to New Jersey and bury them.

Kebabe has gone to court to seek orders to stop the plan to burry the bodies in America, and especially in New Jersey, where he claims the brother in-law does not have the required permanent residence status that will enable him buy a burial ground for the victims.

His argument is that his brother in-law has made unilateral decisions to start burial arrangements without involving the other family members.

He showed the court in Minnesota a letter from Kenyan authorities in their rural home in Kisii which indicated that the two families of the slain lady and her killer husband's had agreed to have the bodies sent to Kenya for burial. But Omare disagrees and accuses the Kenyan authorities of coercing his parents to enter into that agreement.

Kebabe claims that Omare has formed a committee to collect funds for the burial arrangements to be held this weekend without involving members of his (Kebabe’s) family. He says that it will be for the best interest of the two families if decisions on the issue were made based on consultations.

Authorities in Minnesota have sided with Omare because the law recognises the blood family of a deceased person as the legitimate next of kin and burden bearer.

However, Kebabe contests the section of the law that is being used to block his family from claiming the remains of his sister in-law, nephew and niece contravenes that of the Abagusii customary law.

He says that the Abagusii customary law is applicable in this case and therefore supersedes the Minnesota law because the deceased must be buried in her matrimonial home as it is custom to the Abagusii people. "The people’s custom takes precedent in a case of cultural conflict.

"This is a case of cultural conflict where one part wants to take advantage of the cultural ignorance of the authorities in Minnesota to upstage the other family unfairly," said Kebabe., which he says should supersede the Minnesota law . He contends that the deceased did not leave a will declaring where they would be buried in order to legitimize the Minnesota law.

Matters have been complicated because authorities in Minnesota might want to protect what the State law requires its citizens to do on event like this.

Kebabe claims that his brother in-law has taken advantage of the situation to manipulate the authorities unfairly to his advantage. He says it will be unfortunate for Omare to go ahed and burry the three bodies in a region where they never resided in the first place.

The controversy has took an ugly dimension last Saturday after the families openly disagreed and Omare went ahead to enforce the Minnesota law ignoring the other family in the burial arrangements.

The Kenyan community in Minnesota is not able to assist the two warring groups resolve this issue. Several factions have appeared to take sides and this has compounded the situation looks murky. The family of the slain lady accuses the family of the suspected killer of not having done anything to protect the slain victims.

Kebabe accuses his brother in-law of isolating the other family with a suspicious motive. He says that he has advocated for an independent committee to handle the matter, including handling any financial contributions for the burial.

"My brother in-law has become suspiciously hostile after I insisted that we have an independent committee run the funeral arrangements including collecting and accounting of the funds for the funeral," said Kebabe from Minnesota. Kebabe claimed that Omare had so far collected US Dollars 20,000, which he cannot account for yet his decision to burry the deceased who had their homes in Kisii goes against the decision taken by their parents in Kenya.

The dispute has threatened to further polarize two families already suspicious of each other and might possibly derail the burial arrangements of the domestic violence victims. The killings have left many Kenyans and Americans shocked and exposed Kenyan immigrants in America being viewed as a vicious and barbaric community.

Last week, Kebabe moved to Ramsey County Probate Court in Minnesota and sought the court’s intervention to stop Omare from moving ahead with his intended burial plans in New Jersey without the consent of the other family members.

About two weeks ago when the murder reached their parents in Kenya, relatives and chiefs gathered the two families and agreed that burial be carried out at the home, matrimonial of Bilha Ogendi.

Authorities in Minnesota have asked the Kenyan government for interpretation of the customary law in order to enable it advise the warring parties. Kisii people are known to be highly litigious when it comes to matters of burial disputes.

Across America, the community has earned the notoriety of being violent and aggressive.