Kenya Stockholm Blog

Pastor Antonio Denies Planning Juliet’s Burial In Stockholm

Pastor Antonio Daniel Hellena who preaches at Hammarby church in Stockholm has denied that he is planning to organize the burial of the late Juliet  Kavinga in Stockholm. Speaking to Stockholm City newspaper (9th Aug), the Angolan Pastor said that he was shocked when he learnt that Juliet is the lady whose body was recovered floating in a Lake in Stockholm.

“Now Antonio is forced to organize the burial of his friend. He has been in contact with the police to release the body and Hammarby church where Antonio is a Pastor, will collect money in memory of Juliet”, Antonio told Stockholm city. The Pastor told the paper that at the funeral, Juliet’s favorite hymn from the book of Psalms will be sung.

Numerous Kenyans who read the news were shocked. According to Mr. Gerry Midenyo, an official of the Kenya Social Forum in Sweden (Kesofo), Pastor Antonio has no right whatsoever in engaging himself in the burial arrangements of Juliet at a time when even Juliet’s family had not been informed of her death.

“Antonio is not a Kenyan, he doesn’t know where Juliet comes from while there is an organized Kenyan community in Sweden that could deal with the issue”, Mr. Gerry told Kenya Stockholm Blog. “The fact that he had contact with Juliet through the church does not entitle him to organize her burial”, he said.

According to Pastor Antonio who also gave her version of the story, Åsa Asplid, the Journalist who wrote the article, made a mistake. “What I said is that we are planning a memorial service for Juliet because she was a member of our congregation”, he said. The Pastor said that he was sorry that the issue had irritated Kenyans and repeated several times that he was mainly interested in how a memorial service could be arranged and how money could be collected in memory of the deceased.

A meeting the Pastor booked with the Kenyan Embassy in Stockholm on Thursday August 10^th at 10.00 was cancelled by the Pastor after Kenyans began putting pressure on the Pastor to explain the circumstances under which he was planning to bury Juliet’s body in Stockholm. As a tradition, Kenyans who pass away in Sweden are normally buried in Kenya with the help of Kenyans and friends.

According to Mr. George Kinywa, the First secretary at the Kenyan Embassy in Stockholm, Pastor Antonio booked a meeting with the Embassy together with the Kenya Sweden Friendship Association (KESFA) to discuss the issue of Juliet although Kinywa pointed out that the main agenda was not Juliet’s burial in Stockholm.  He said that the embassy was equally surprised that the Pastor went to the press with plans to bury Juliet in Stockholm.

Asked how the Embassy was engaged in the case, Mr. Kinywa said that he was personally in touch with police and that the Embassy was awaiting a final Report about investigations into the case before deciding on what to do next.

“The position of the Embassy is that Juliet should be buried in Kenya and the Embassy is in touch with the Swedish authorities”, he told Kenya Stockholm Blog. He said that the Embassy was keen on working with everybody to see to it that Juliet’s body is eventually buried in Kenya.

Okoth Osewe

makosewe@gmail.com

August 10, 2006 - Posted by makozewe | News & Analysis | pastor antonio planning juliet burial okoth osewe kenya stockholm makozewe ksb kenyans wakenya