Video Upload On Maggero Controversy: Jared Odero Speaks
Mr. Jared Odero comments on the Maggero controversy.
Okoth Osewe
Video Upload on Maggero Controversy: Jared Aroka Speaks
Mr. Jared Aroka is the Chairperson of the ”Kenya-Maggero Memorial” which will be held on Saturday 3rd February 2007 (see seperate story below). In this video upload, Mr. Aroka addresses different issues regarding the controversial issue of Maggero’s Funeral in Sweden. To view the video, CLICK HERE.
Also available at KSB Video Link
Okoth Osewe
BREAKING NEWS: Mr. John Peter Omiti Is Dead
Mr. John Peter Omiti, a Kenyan who has been residing in Sweden for more than 20 years is dead.
Okoth Osewe
“Moving The Center” In The Maggero Debate (Part Two)
James Wuod Maggero, whose real name was also “Otieno”, was a good story teller. He could glue his listener for hours with titillating tales, be they about his escapes in Kenya or his excursions in Sweden when he first came to this country.
When, one day, he went with Dagmar to his home village in Siranga, Aoko Nyar Bamba, Maggero’s late mother, was surprised that Dagmar was collecting snails which she wanted to cook and eat. Surprised, Aoko told Dagmar that she would have to cook the snails at the gunda (an abandoned home) and not at the home stead.
Dagmar got very angry and retorted that the home people were also eating ngwen (termites) and that she also had a right to cook and eat the snails. She could not understand why she could not be allowed to cook snails which she had picked up when eating of termites was allowed.
When my mother visited me in Sweden in May 2001, Wuod Maggero was the first person she visited at his house in Hellenelund because, for a long time, Maggero had been a very close family friend. Dagmar cooked chicken and rice for us. To be honest, Dagmar is a really nice cook and many Kenyans who attended Maggero’s ceremonies will attest to this.
On many occasions when Maggero visited Kenya, he used to call me to check if I had a message for Mom. He took his time and went to Kisumu to deliver my messages. When Maggero lost his son Owino, he spent a night at Geneva Guest House in Kisumu (which my family owns) together with his first wife, Nyar Ugenya, arguing that there was nowhere else he could sleep while in Kisumu. I have been contemplating publishing a picture my Mom took with Woud Maggero in Stockholm but I have to ask her first. But when Maggero started getting really sick, he stopped going to Kisumu while in Kenya and my info line to my family was also cut off.
When Maggero organized the duoko nyako (returning the girl) ceremony at Hellenulund (I can’t remember the girl who was being duokod), I was one of the impromptu speakers and a key point I made in my speech was that I did not know about the “duoko nyako” ceremony until I attended the function. I was later informed by some elderly Luos that they too did not know about it while some Luo women admitted that they were never duokod themselves. Maggero was a cultural person.
We arrived at the function with Mr. Mark Gaya and I remember congratulating Wuod Maggero for upholding the African culture and helping the younger generation to understand the meaning and value of African cultures which were on their way to extinction.
When Dagmar accused me of never having attended their functions and being a total stranger when she had actually cooked a meal for my mother and myself in her own house, I went to the archive to look at some of the nice pictures we took during the “life and times” of Wuod Maggero to reminisce and wondered why Dagmar was telling such horrible lies at a time when Maggero had just departed. The brutality of my articles as a result of concerns about what had happened to “Our elder” had expunged the good memories. But let’s get back to business.
WHY MAGGERO’S SOUL MIGHT NEVER “REST IN PEACE”
Culture is not static. It is true that today, Luos do not remove their six lower teeth because the exigencies of this practice has been overtaken by both science and technology that can facilitate the feeding of a sick person through intra-venous means if the patient is unable to eat food through the mouth.
In Stockholm, many members of the Kikuyu community have not circumcised their sons and daughters although this is what could have happened if their children were born in Kenya. Luos and other African communities no longer pay dowry in terms of goats and cows but accept hard cash as an alternative. Wife inheritance among the Luo is on the wane while the practice of Luos marrying outside the tribe is acceptable with more focus having shifted to whether the basic Luo marriage customs have been followed. Within the Luo culture, no marriage is valid unless dowry has been paid. Tero buru ( a ritual for the dead) among the Luo is facing extinction. In short, the law of cultural dynamism states that progressive cultures survive while retrogressive cultures diminish over time and this is a widely accepted rule in many cultures.
Africans stopped wearing skins long time ago because cultures are dynamic. Luo culture does not demand that a Luo man must be buried in his ancestral home as long as the man set up a new home elsewhere according to Luo traditions. In fact, some Luo males have been reported to have been circumcised for their own personal reasons although nyange (circumscision) is not widely practiced within the community ie there is even room to borrow from other cultures at the individual level.
In the current case of Woud Maggero, the question which could be posed is whether Luo culture (just like many African cultures) has evolved in a way that cremation could be accepted as a “normal practice”.
The hoopla around Maggero’s cremation is strongly linked to the novelty of the event among the Luo (and many Africans), the speed with which it was conducted without family participation in Kenya, the secrecy which surrounded Maggero’s death announcement, the failure of Maggero’s Swedish family to compromise on certain basic demands and, most importantly, the failure of Mr. Maggero himself to prepare his Luo and African counter parts for the event in case it was his wish to be cremated.
Maggero should have understood that his cremation had the potential of exploding into a controversy and, under the circumstances, it was his responsibility to “diffuse the bomb”, not just by informing his wife but also preparing his people especially his closest friends like Dr. Otieno Wariaro who could have acted as a “cultural front” in favor of Dagmar and her daughters to explain events to other Kenyans. This did not happen.
The Kikuyu do not cremate. But when former Arch Bishop Manases Kuria was cremated in Kenya a few years ago, there was no commotion because the Bishop had prepared his people properly for the event when he was still alive. For many Kenyans who are now planning an alternative Memorial for Maggero, the Mzee’s cremation was the climax of a terrible clash between the Swedish/Jewish culture and Luo culture. The general view is that the white culture prevailed while the African culture was trampled upon with impunity.
The fireworks being witnessed in the Maggero case could be dismissed by the “culturally dislocated” as the product of interference of a private family affair but in reality, the persistent sparks are the product of deep dilemma which has struck some Kenyans in the wake of news about Maggero’s cremation and the expected consequences within the context of both Luo and African culture.
For many Luos who understand the culture, the call that Maggero’s soul should be left to “rest in peace” is anathema because since his body was never buried, Luo culture dictate that his soul will never rest in peace because his spirit will wonder “for ever” upon the surface of the earth.
The point of impact between this Luo culture and Swedish/Jewish culture is that for Maggero’s Swedish family, the status of Maggero’s soul is not affected by his cremation while for the Luo, whoever supported or contributed to Maggero’s cremation will have to pay by being haunted by Maggero’s spirit which will hold these people responsible for its inability to join the ancestors because his body is “at large”.
BURIAL OF ASHES NEXT TO MOTHER IN LAW WILL BE REPUGNANT
Luos who have been “making noise” over the issue have simply been trying to wash their hands from responsibility because after Maggero’s family failed to travel to Sweden to deal with the crisis, there was nothing else Luos in Stockholm could do because non of them was related to Maggero by blood. It was for this reason that the fundamental demand to Maggero’s Swedish family was for a family member from Kenya to travel to Sweden “to be part of the funeral process”.
The fear of the dead coming back to haunt the living within the Luo culture has, on several occasions, led to the clan “dumping Wills in dustbins” on grounds that the dead did not understand the real implications of their Wills when they were alive with the hope that the dead would realize their mistakes once they joined the ancestors, time when the living would also be vindicated. It is also for this reason that funeral arrangements within the Luo are the preserve of clan members whose leaders are expected to understand every minute detail in the situation. SM Otieno (for Kenyans who know about the historic case) wrote a Will but it was dumped, not by clan members but by the Court system in the Republic of Kenya which ruled in favour of the Luo culture.
If Mr. Maggero had died at war or drowned so that his body could not be found, a yago (the pod of an oak tree) could be buried (at the designated location of Maggero’s burial site) to represent his body in order to appease his spirit so that his soul could rest in peace.
The dilemma in the Maggero case is that although his body existed, it was deliberately converted into ashes by people who did not understand the implications so a yago cannot be buried to replace it. The consequence is that Maggero’s spirit will have to wonder “for ever” and those who will rest in earthly peace (free from Maggero’s haunting spirit) are those who had nothing to do with the disappearance of his body. If he had left a Will that he wanted to be cremated and convinced people in life, his spirit would not be in a position to haunt anybody because there would be nobody to take responsibility. This might sound a bit of “Latin” to white readers although it is what the culture says.
The “Jewish element” of the analysis above hinges on the fact that Dagmar is a “Swedish Jew” whose Jewish mother relocated to Sweden after the second world war. Real Jews don’t cremate although the practice is normal among “Liberal Jews”.
Dagmar’s mother was herself cremated and, according to Maggero’s Swedish family which made revelations at the Continental Hotel, Maggero’s ashes will be buried next to his mother in law’s ashes thereby provoking new and intensive cultural fireworks which Dagmar and her daughters might never understand.
The fact that Maggero’s mother in law was herself cremated also raises questions as to whether the cremation of Maggero was his wish or whether it is a family practice from the point of view of Dagmar’s Jewish heritage. Nobody has seen the will where Maggero says that he wanted to be cremated and what is available is hear-say.
If Maggero’s ashes are buried next to her mother in law as was planned, it will probably be the first time that a Luo has been “buried” next to his mother in law since the genesis of the “Luo nation”. There is simply no way of capturing the repugnancy in the situation.
COULD “NYAR UGENYA” THREATEN DAGMAR’S MATRIMONIAL STATUS?
Another point of cultural conflict is that Dagmar is Maggero’s second wife although she and her daughters took all the decisions about Maggero’s cremation. According to Luo culture, Nyar Ugenys should have taken the lead as Dagmar followed in her foot-steps. Nyar Ugenya could herself have been taking instructions from the clan. But that is irrelevant now.
Coming back to Sweden, the possibility of a second legal wife is “unthinkable” in Sweden and when we raised the issue, the key boards of many white Swedish contacts who have been sending private mails to KSB to try and discuss the matter simply went dead.
To get back to the point, Nyar Ugenya, Maggero’s first wife, did not even feature in the funeral process probably because if her profile had been lifted, it could have complicated the situation for Dagmar who stands as the sole inheritor of Maggero’s estate on grounds that she is the sole “next of kin”.
We don’t have to mention Maggero’s children, some of whom are unknown but who have a legal right to claim part of his estate. A typical case is that of Beatrice, Maggero’s unknown twenty year old daughter who studies at Stockholm university in Sweden and whose Finish mother was blocked from getting entangled into the “Maggero quagmire” by some Kenyans who did not want her to disturb the waters further and at a time when many pleas were being drafted to be presented to Maggero’s Swedish family.
If the issue of Nyar Ugenya came up forcefully, another issue which could have popped up is the marital status of Dagmar because if evidence could be produced that Maggero was in deed married at the time he married Dagmar and that he never divorced Nyar Ugenya, then Dagmar’s marriage to Maggero could be rendered null and void according to Swedish law which does not permit two or more wives at the same time.
To be precise, the status of Dagmar in relation to the law could be reduced to that of a “Sambo” (Cohabitant). The Swedish law dictates that Maggero had to officially divorce Nyar Ugenya before Marrying Dagmar and since this did not happen, Nyar Ugenya was in a position to claim Maggero’s estate if she could produce a marriage certificate that she was legally married to Wuod Maggero at the time Maggero married Dagmar.
We urge the “Liberated Young Kenyans” and other “disco critics” to join the debate at another level instead of engaging in personal and unrealistic attacks against those who are trying to honestly shed new light on the Maggero crisis.
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART THREE
Okoth Osewe
“Kenya-Maggero Memorial” Plans Complete
Plans for the ”Kenya Maggero Memorial” are complete. A meeting held yesterday at Continental Hotel in Stockholm resolved that the event will take place on Saturday 3rd February 2007 at the “Wananchi Pavillion” situated at Högbergsgatan 48 (Tube: Medborgaplatsen or Söder Station).
According to Mr. Jared Aroka, the Chairperson of the Memorial committee, “The function begins at 18:00 and all Kenyans, friends of Maggero and members of Maggero’s family are welcome.
Officals of the Memorial Committee are as follows: Chairperson, Mr. Jared Aroka, Vice Chairperson, Mr. Antony Adiwa, Secretary, Mr. Okoth Osewe, Vice secretary Mr. Joshua Oyugi, Treasurer, Mrs Hellen Opwapo, Vice treasurer, Mrs Caroline Ayodo, Organising secretary Mr. Jared Odero while the Masters of Ceremony will be Mr. Martin Ngatia and Mr. Dancan Munala.
The event, which will cost 15.000 kr, will feature prayers by Pastor Beatrice Kamau and several speakers. Dr. Otieno Wariaro, who is regarded as the late Maggero’s best friend and confidant, will deliver the Eulogy while other speakers on the line up are: Mr. Osore Ondusye, Mrs Prisca Forsman, Mrs Jane Owili, Mr. Lars Asker, Mr. Morre Petersson Ms Sofia Njoroge, Mrs Hellen Opwapo among others. Music will be available in plenty featuring Kenyan DJs. Entrence will be free while food will also be free.
The newly appointed Committee resolved to release a statement taking up all the issues which had come up since Maggero passed away especially on the question of exclusion of Maggero’s Kenyan family from funeral arrangements, cremation of his body, delay in releasing information about Mr. Maggero’s death, the view from the Luo culture, the writing of wills among the Kenyan community in Sweden among others.
According to Mr. Jared Aroka, “Kenyans will continue to die in Sweden and even be buried or cremated in this country but this needs to be made clear well in advance”.
Mr. Aroka said that if another Kenyan passes away and funeral circumstances resemble those of the Maggero case, it is most likely that the Kenyan community will intervene once again.
He dismissed the view that a funeral is purely a “family affair”, taking the position that the Luo and many African communities view funeral arrangements as the responsibility of the immediate family in conjunction with other family members of the deceased, clan members and friends alike.
Mr. Aroka told KSB that Maggero’s family should not have dismissed Kenyans who were calling for the involvement of Maggero’s family in Kenya in the funeral arrangements. He defended the planned memorial service saying that Kenyans who knew Mr. Maggero had a right to mourn the late Mzee in their own way.
Mr. Martin Ngatia, Vice chairperson of ODM-K Scandinavia and Chairperson of KESDEMO, said that the case of Maggero should be a “wake up call” arguing that African cultures needed to be defended especially cultures that still have meaning to African people.
He criticized the Kenyan government for having failed to intervene to delay the process of Maggero’s cremation before family members could arrive in Sweden. He said that Mr. Maggero never relinquished his Kenyan citizenship and as such, it was the responsibility of the government to intervene in the case to delay his cremation instead of leaving him to be treated “like a dog”.
Okoth Osewe
Plans To Open ODM-K Scandinavia Office Complete
Plans to open the ODM-K Scandinavia Office in Stockholm are complete. The event will take place on Saturday January 27th at Högbergsgatan 48 (Tube: Medborgaplatsen or Söder Station). The event begins at 18:00. The Office is located at the same address.
After the official opening, there will be a reception at “Wananchi Pavillion” (located at the same premise) where ODM-KS Chairlady Mrs Hellen Opwapo will deliver a speech to the audience.
There will be plenty of opportunity for social interactions and political discussions especially the situation in Kenya. Kenyans and friends have all been invited regardless of their political affiliations and social orientations. Kenyan DJs will be at hand to entertain Wananchi.
According to Mr. Dancan Munala, ODM-KS Secretary, “There is need for Kenyans to build new political Networks and strengthen the existing ones for purposes of addressing the crisis in our country collectively”, He said. He added that ODM-KS is trying to make this possible by facilitating social and political gatherings of members of the Kenyan community in Stockholm.
Okoth Osewe
“Moving The Center” In The Maggero Debate (Part One)
The debate on Mr. James wuod Maggero continues and since opponents have been trying to twist the facts, I wish to state them once again because these facts form the basis of arguments presented in this contribution.
• Maggero passed away on the 4th of January 2007. After his death, the family kept the information to themselves and even Maggero’s family in Kenya have communicated through a lawyer saying that they first got the information on the 9th of January. Mr. Maggero’s death was discovered accidentally by Mr. Morre Petersson, a Kenyan who then blew the whistle.
• Maggero’s family in Kenya did not manage to send a representative to the funeral service which took place on Friday January 12th 2007. A written request that the funeral be delayed so that they could send two representatives was ignored by the family in Sweden.
• It was the plan of Maggero’s Swedish family to dispose of the body through cremation. From communications from Maggero’s family in Kenya, they wanted to be involved in the funeral arrangements. This did not happen.
• A plea by a section of the Kenyan community in Stockholm that Maggero’s funeral be delayed until members of his family in Kenya could arrive in Sweden was ignored. Another request that the cremation of Maggero’s body be delayed so that Kenyans could pay their last respects by viewing the body was also ignored. A plea that Kenyans be accorded an opportunity to mourn Mr. Maggero in accordance with Luo culture was also ignored.
WHO IS A “NEXT OF KIN”?
The Maggero debate pits those who believe that the whole affair is private and should be handled by the late Mzee’s “next of kin” ie Maggero’s wife and four daughters in Sweden while the opposition thinks that Maggero’s family in Kenya should have been allowed time to travel to Sweden to attend the funeral with or without cremation. Did Maggero have a “next of kin” of Dagmar’s caliber in Kenya?
For the four or so “liberated young Kenyans” out of the info loop, Mr. Maggero’s first wife is still alive in Kenya and she also qualifies as a “next of kin” because Maggero never divorced her in life. We will call her “Nyar Ugenya” as Maggero used to call her. It is true that Maggero did not spend much of his life with Nyar Ugenya but this does not relegate her to the level of a stranger. Nyar Ugenya is the mother of the late Owino (Maggero’s son) whose London based estranged wife spoke at Maggero’s Funeral service on behalf of Maggero’s Kenyan family on Friday last week.
If enough time had been allowed, the perfect representative of Maggero’s Kenyan family could have been “Nyar Ugenya”. Chi Owino could not have been the perfect representative of Maggero’s Kenyan family because she divorced Owino fifteen years before Owino’s death, moved to London and remarried a man from Zaire. Chi Owino’s three children are currently being taken care of by Nyar Ugenya. The woman is a devout Christian, never remarried and remained the Mzee’s wife until he passed away on 4th January 2007. A retired teacher, she is still strong and healthy and was in a position to travel.
The matrimonial relationship between the late Maggero and Nyar Ugenya is beyond challenge because she got wedded to Maggero in 1961. From our view, Nyar Ugenya should have traveled to Sweden to pay her last respects to her husband “according to her wish”. The couple got married in a colorful wedding that was presided over by Bishop Ajuoga of the Hera Church. Maggero’s best man at the wedding was Mr. Owili who was Maggero’s age-mate. Mr. Owili is also alive and is currently a Chief in Siranga where Maggero comes from. Maggero is himself the son of a Chief.
Nyar Ugenya still lives at the same house Maggero built for her at his home village in Siranga. After the marriage, Maggero left Kenya to study in Finland. Later he returned to Kenya then left for Sweden where he met Dagmar. This is not another “fabrication” by KSB as the group of four liberated young Kenyans would want people to believe. It is the fact of the matter.
Nyar Ugenya is not some abandoned woman in the village. Dagmar knows her and she has met her three times in Siranga on different occasions when she traveled with Maggero to Kenya. Nyar Ugenya is not someone Maggero tried to hide from Dagmar and when concerned Kenyans were calling for an extension of time so that Maggero’s family could send someone, it was not out of the blue.
The Swedish system does not recognize Nyar Ugenya but this does not obliterate the fact that she is also a next of kin of the late Maggero. According to Luo culture, she is even more senior than Dagmar on grounds that she was Maggero’s first wife. In summery, Maggero was a polygamist and concerns that were being raised were based on the fact that there is an African wife somewhere in Siranga who was left out of the funeral arrangements and whose right to be part of the decision on the contentious issue of cremation was also violated.
Nyar Ugenya’s late son Owino once traveled to Sweden to visit his father and the Maggero Swedish family knows this. During his trip to Sweden, he met Kenyans like Gerry Midenyo before he returned to Kenya under very difficult circumstances which we will not go into here for the sake of decency but which are well known to Dagmar and her daughters. To dismiss Maggero’s Kenyan family as non entities or to cast them out of the “next of kin” bracket is unacceptable and inhumane. It was wrong even within the context of the “Swedish system” of doing things because Maggero’s Swedish family cannot claim “ignorance” about the existence of this family. If Nyar Ugenya is not a “next of kin”, who is she?
According to the Swedish law, any next of kin has a right to information about death and participation in funeral arrangements. The problem is that Maggero’s wife and surviving child in Kenya do not feature in the Swedish system. Does this cut them off from the family to an extent that they are considered irrelevant in the planning of the Mzee’s funeral?
ATTACKS ON KSB
There is a fact that has been manufactured and which has been used in several arguments to the effect that critics of the manner in which the Maggero funeral was organized wanted the body to be taken to Kenya for burial. This is not the case. Another lie being used in the arguments is that critics were opposed to the cremation of Maggero’s body. This is also not correct.
The concern centered around the exclusion of Maggero’s family (including his first wife) in Kenya from participating in the funeral arrangements and nothing else. If, for example, Maggero’s first wife (or any representative) had traveled to Sweden, held discussions with Maggero’s Swedish family and emerged to say that Maggero will be cremated, nobody could have questioned this. The problem is that the family in Kenya was strategically left out of the process.
Opponents of KSB appear to be having sleepless nights. They have turned to “demonizing” the blog site with unsubstantiated attacks because of forth-right reports on issues of interest to the Kenyan community in Stockholm. The problem with the Maggero stories is not that they have any serious factual errors. Without the Maggero story having been broken by KSB, the old man could probably have been cremated silently and without much ado. According to two family members who met Kenyans at Continental Hotel last week, their plan was to announce a “two days of mourning” after Maggero had been cremated!
When Mr. James Kiboi passed away in Norway in September last year, KSB faced virulent attacks because of exposures that surrounded the late diplomats death. Stories were dismissed as “false”, “fabricated” and so fourth. When APN picked up the matter, the revelations went even “deeper” but along the KSB lines. The revelations were so serious that KSB had to withdraw to leave APN to do its work.
Almost every fact that was published at KSB turned out to have been credible with APN adding the detail. It is during this period that APN was also consulting with KSB on the setting up of APN and we gave lots of valuable advice (emails on file). The initial site “Kenya Oslo blog”, failed to take off because “there wasn’t much happening around Kenyans in Oslo”.
Sometimes, the Kiboi revelations at APN bordered on “libel” and what we could do was to keep our fingers crossed. When KSB critics noticed that this blog site was simply “scratching the surface” on the Kiboi revelations and that there was much more to the tragedy, they retreated into their “spider holes” as APN continued to feast on the story. We wrote that Kiboi was last seen with three women (who were named) at Masawa bar in Oslo and critics went wild. When APN wrote that the number of women were actually five, KSB critics took a boat trip to Finland to contemplate their empty attacks on KSB in a moment of shame.
Today, Maggero’s first wife in Kenya is in the process of being “wiped out” of the map of “next of kin”. Why? The process of cremating her husband’s body was set in motion and finalized before she was even informed that her husband had passed away. Why? Do those trying to rubbish concerns by Kenyans in Stockholm know that the Mzee had a family in Kenya which also needs to be respected or is the “liberation” some people have undergone include trampling on the rights of Maggero’s family in Kenya simply because they are nobodies within the Swedish legal system?
KSB is in touch with Kenyans at the grass roots and the majority position is clear – Maggero’s family in Kenya should have been given the opportunity to participate in the funeral arrangements and represented in his final send off regardless of whether or not his body was going to be cremated. This position appears not to be changing.
Kenyans have and will continue to meet in Stockholm whenever one of us passes away to discuss the death and what needs to be done.
It is the responsibility of those who knew Mr. Maggero to raise issues on behalf of his sidelined family in Kenya and voices that are distorting the central issue of “family exclusion” are doing so as a matter of expediency and cheap propaganda. Maggero’s wife, child and family in Kenya should not be treated like “second class” family members because they are equal stake holders on the issue even though they are in Kenya. To suggest that they could not be involved in the process because they have no money to travel to Sweden was an abuse.
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART TWO – SATURDAY EVENING
Okoth Osewe
Maggero: “Liberated Young Kenyans” Under Attack
First and foremost, I send my condolences to the Maggeros on the passing away of Mr. Wuod Maggero. Secondly, I take this opportunity to respond to the so-called “Liberated Young Kenyans in Stockholm” who have signed a strongly-worded “e-petition” on the African Press in Norway (APN) website, challenging matters published on the Kenya Stockholm Blog (KSB), pertaining to the late Mr. Wuod Maggero.
I am pertubed that the liberated Kenyans chose to pen their thoughts on a website hosted in Norway and not on KSB, given that the events in question are based in Stockholm. I have decided to respond here and not in the “Norwegian cyberspace”, with my full names and not just as a “concerned Kenyan”. To Mr. Okoth Osewe who owns KSB, I say “kudos for keeping a large section of Kenyans updated on occurrences within Stockholm”.
The news of Mr. Wuod Maggero’s passing was first broken to the public through Mr. Osewe’s text message and an article on KSB. His passing has triggered a public debate that now pits the once “muted and shackled” yet now ardent liberated Kenyans, against the “conservatives”, who still believe that an African beholds his/her identity from birth unto death, depending upon how many generations have passed in the Diaspora.
I am glad that these liberals show that the Kenyan Stockholm community has writers willing to engage their “intellectual” prowess on matters pertaining to Luo traditions, gender and race, which have vexed them with regard to this funeral.
Being a contributor and a loyal reader of KSB, I have been keenly following the debate surrounding Mr. Maggero’s funeral. I was part of the crowd that met at the Continental Hotel on January 10th, 2007, and wish that these so-called liberated Kenyans were present then, to challenge, in this case, the conservative Kenyans. As usual, despite a mass SMS inviting all, they did not show up. Instead, they are now shouting in the virtual world, accusing Mr. Osewe of biased reporting about this funeral and so forth.
In my opinion, Mr. Maggero represented the first generation of Kenyans in Sweden, so events surrounding his funeral are unique. His case might have been different in the UK or the USA, where Kenyans have lived for many years, and some have severed traditional ties with their roots. As Mr. Osewe clearly put it in an earlier article, this might be the beginning of a radical shift in our perception of death abroad.
I wish to remind these liberals that according to Mr. Osewe, KSB is “… dedicated to News and events happening around Kenyans in Stockholm”. I have cited some Internet definitions of the term blog, to explain its meaning:
• A short form for weblog, a frequent and chronological publication of comments and thoughts on the web. They usually include philosophical reflections, opinions on the Internet and social or political issues.
www.epolitix.com/NR/exeres/0CE8163A-7446-43D7-A038-91C95E078E97,frameless.htm
• A public website where users post informal journals of their thoughts, comments, and philosophies, updated frequently and normally reflecting the views of the blog’s creator.
www.worldwidelearn.com/elearning-essentials/elearning-glossary.htm
• A weblog or internet diary. Weblogs enable users to publish short comments and ideas instantly for other people to read. Blogging can be an effective communications tool for small groups of people to keep in touch with each other.
www.z2z.com/site01/itglos01.html
• A “web log” or online diary. Blogs have been identified as an increasingly popular source of online publication, especially regarding political information, opinion publication and alternative news coverage.
www.parliament.vic.gov.au/sarc/E-Democracy/Final_Report/Glossary.htm
These varied definitions of the blog, clarify that it is a Web space for opinions on socio-political or other matters, either from the blogger or other contributors. It is continuosly updated: a key aspect about the blog. The liberated Kenyans accuse Mr. Osewe of not getting certain facts correctly, but do not acknowledge that those so-called falsified facts have been systematically corrected by KSB, and elsewhere in the cyberspace by the late Mr. Maggero’s wife, Mrs. Dagmar Wuod Maggero.
Since these liberated Kenyans want to keep things “intellectual”, I would like to ask them to cite word for word, all the fabricated stories on KSB, instead of blowing hot air with their e-petition which has so far attracted their mates only, yet it is posted on a website concerned with African matters. Have they asked themselves why their so-claimed a large section of Kenyans who are against KSB are not responding?
Randa, a contributor to the e-petition, claims that KSB should cease its unprofessional reporting. I challenge this group to open its own blog that can independently bash KSB by fully citing its mistakes, then market it to all Kenyans and the rest of the world. As a matter of fact, the credibility of KSB has been upheld through the citation of its news, by reknowned journalists on the websites of The Kenya Times and the Kenya London News.
I believe that a blanket condemnation of KSB without any proof is enough show of malice and twisted thinking, and only perpetuates what I often brand as “cheap feminist attacks”. I know my words will ruffle feathers and get labelled a “sexist”, but I am ready for an intellectual critique on this, as long as it remains civil and not personal.
I will refer the young liberals to a case that shocked Africans in Sweden and elsewhere, in 1995. This was the cremation of a young asylum seeker from Ivory Coast, named Gérard Gbeyo, who had been brutally murdered in Klippan, a small town in Sweden. Due to claims of delays in transporting the body and high costs incurred to preserve it, he was cremated in Sweden by the State, without the consent of his Ivorian family.
I urge the liberals to fetch a television documentary featured in one of the Swedish channels, and see how shocked Gérard’s family was, when their son’s ashes were transported to Ivory Coast in a box. As most Africans expect, burying a body and not its ashes is the norm. The liberals claim that since cremation is not a part of the Luo burial customs, then it is not a taboo. That is neither here nor there, because certain habits do not have to be explicit. KSB confirmed in an interview with Mrs. Dagmar Wuod Maggero, that Mr. Maggero did not write in his Will that he should be cremated.
To cite the liberal Kenyans, “the cremation decision was in fact Maggero’s as is captured in his WILL and not his wife’s and daughters”. If they have read the Will, how come Ms. Hellen Wuod Maggero (Wuod Maggero’s daughter) had not seen it by last Wednesday, when she met Kenyans at the Continental Hotel? In this case, the young liberals are merely rumour-mongering and biased. Can they publicly cite words from that WILL confirming the cremation of Wuod Maggero? Hell NO!
I recall very well that the following were the pleas from Kenyans to Ms. Hellen Wuod Maggero, on January 10, 2007 as cited on KSB:
1. That the funeral process of the late Maggero be delayed until his family can arrive from Kenya to attend the burial.
2. That the cremation of Mr. Maggero be delayed so that Kenyans can have the opportunity to view his body and pay their last respects.
3. That the family allow for Kenyans who knew Maggero to mourn the late Mzee in accordance with Luo culture.
The Continental Hotel discussions were also recorded on video and there is not a moment when anybody disrespected the issue of cremation. I personally asked Ms. Hellen Wuod Maggero whether it was her father’s wish to be cremated and the instant answer was “Yes”.
I therefore wonder what these young liberated Kenyans are whining about. I will not use this platform to comment on their perception of a woman’s role in decision-making and their counter-claims on interracial marriages. They are free to discuss these issues in whichever way they deem right, just as Mr. Osewe equally presented his opinion and that of the public he interviewed.
Jared Odero
KSB Note:
Let’s hope that the “Liberated Young Kenyans” will show their faces on Friday meeting at Continental Hotel to face Wakenya instead of engaging in peurile and empty attacks on KSB under anonymous tags in cyberspace.
Kenya Maggero Memorial: Meeting At Continental Hotel On Friday
Kenyans will meet at Continental Hotel in Stockholm on Friday January 19th from 18.00 to plan the ”Kenya Memorial Service” for the late James Wuod Maggero. The meeting is being coordinated by Dr. Otieno Wariaro, Mr. Jared Aroka and Mr. Joshua Oyugi. All interested Kenyans have been invited to the meeting.
A proposal for the meeting was put forward last week after those who attended it took the view that they needed to mourn the late Maggero according to Luo culture. February 3rd was proposed as an appropriate date for the Memorial while it was also agreed that a planning meeting would be held earlier.
The meeting is also expected to come up with a statement taking a position on the controversial issues that have been surrounding Maggero’s burial, some of which have been discussed extensively at KSB. This includes the exclusion of Maggero’s family in Kenya from funeral arrangements and other thorny matters.
Okoth Osewe
Video Upload: Interview With MP Mwandawiro Mghanga
A new Socialist Party has been set up in Kenya. In this video interview, MP Mwandawiro Mghanga talks about the new Party, Socialism, revolution in Kenya, ODM-K and the role Kenyans abroad can play in the revolutionary struggle in Kenya. To watch the video, CLICK HERE.
Okoth Osewe
Report On Maggero’s Memorial Service
The case of Mr. Maggero’s cremation without a single member of his family traveling from Kenya to attend the funeral service appears to be coming to an end. The weekend has been quiet, save for reflections and consultations among concerned Kenyans about what needs to be done as official news about Maggero’s cremation is also awaited.
According to a KSB contact who attended the service, the faces of Kenyans who were present appeared to have been asking “How could this have happened” but there were no immediate answers.
The casket was properly sealed, sealing all last minutes hopes by some Kenyans about any possibility of viewing the body. Despite the drama in the run up to the service, some Kenyans from the Luo community still had a small illusion that they would be able to view the body. But when they saw the casket, their expectations evaporated as they began to deal with the psychological realities of the situation.
The church was small and the crowd was dominated by whites. According to rough estimates, three quarters of the crowd was white while majority of Kenyans were Luos.
Anybody who arrived at the Church precinct before 15.00 was prevented from getting into the church because it appeared as though a function was in progress. The person who was manning the door wanted to know whether one was a relative or whether one had been invited before letting anybody in. Anybody who did not fit into any of the two categories was politely informed to wait until 15.00 hrs when the service was scheduled to begin officially. According to a contact, those who were kept out appeared to have accepted this arrangement with respect because the family had a right to privacy especially if people had been informed that the service was starting at 15.00 hrs.
PRISCA FORSMAN’S SPEECH
According to reports from various sources, Prisca Forsman, a Kenyan woman, was one of the speakers. She won lots of accolades from Kenyans who viewed her speech as “an act of courage”. She was not in the Program neither was she invited to give her speech. “She just walked along and said that there was something she wanted to say”, a contact told KSB.
According to those interviewed by KSB, Prisca not only articulated the position of Kenyans who were campaigning for Maggero’s family to be allowed to attend the service but also brought out some of the major controversial issues that have been raised by many Kenyans about the manner in which the funeral was conducted.
It is reported that she did this very respectfully, opening her speech by recognizing the important role Dagma, the late Maggero’s wife, has played in the life of the late Mzee and the whole family. “Behind every successful man there is a woman”, she is reported to have said. After saying very good things about Dagma and the family, she reportedly got into business. She began to break down the thorny issues in a way that earned the admiration of many members of the congregation who thought that although her speech was “hard hitting”, it was balanced and cased in palatable terms.
She is reported to have said that Maggero was a very respected elder within the Kenyan community in Stockholm but that the kind of send off he was being given was not the kind of send-off he deserved. She said that the church where the service was taking place was too small and regretted the fact that many Kenyans had chosen not to turn up for the service because of the circumstances under which it had been held.
She said that under normal circumstances, a much more bigger church could have been more fitting, adding that given the popularity of Mr. Maggero in Stockholm, she was convinced that even the biggest church in Stockholm could have been filled up by mourners. “This is not what he deserved”, she is reported to have said.
She also told the mourners that it was unfortunate that Maggero’s family in Kenya had not been allowed enough time to attend the service. She said that Mr. Maggero was a cultural person and added that the family should have accepted the request that members of his family in Kenya be given enough time to attend the funeral. We won’t go into much detail about Prisca’s speech.
In summery, it was like Prisca became the unofficial representative of Wakenya who took the view that the funeral had been hurried up and that Maggero’s family in Kenya could have been allowed to play a role in the funeral arrangements on grounds that this is the Luo culture.
Before the service began, Prisca handed over a written message from Maggero’s family in Kenya to the effect that they wanted to be part of the arrangements. She also presented the family with a short note urging them to wait with the cremation of Maggero’s body. A source that was close to the message told KSB that the short note read in part “Do not cremate”.
“CHI OWINO’S” SPEECH
Before Prisca gave her speech, there is a woman who was simply referred to as “Chi Owino” who spoke and who is reported to have traveled from London. She praised the Maggero family and said that the whole family in Kenya was behind what the family was doing in Sweden. It is reported that she surprised many Kenyans with her speech especially those who did not know her. She simply introduced herself as a person “having children in the family” and that the bulk of her speech was designed to create the impression that she was expressing the views of Maggero’s family in Kenya. Given the significance of her speech in relation to the major controversy, KSB’s detectives quickly went to work to complete the puzzle.
Mr. Maggero had a son called Owino who passed away and according to sources, the woman is the former wife of Owino and that is why she was being referred to as “Chi Owino” (Owino’s wife). She is reported to have had three children with the late Owino. After the death of Owino, she left her three children with their grandmother in Kenya and moved to London where she started a new relationship with a man from Zaire. So far, the relationship has been blessed with two children. When Maggero died, she was contacted by the family in Sweden to come and speak at the service on behalf of the Maggero family in Kenya. According to critics from the Luo community who have understood her background, her role at the service has simply added a new complication to an increasingly complex case.
The issue which has suddenly surfaced, is how she popped up from London to represent the family based in Kenya, given that the family had earlier communicated to Maggero’s Swedish family through a lawyer seeking to send “two representatives” from Kenya. Another issue is whether culturally, she has the authority to represent the family given her relationship with the Zairean man with whom she has mothered two children.
When she says that she is “going home” does she go back to Maggero’s family in Kenya or to Zaire? The dividing line is whether through her relationship with the Zairean man in London, she could still be recognized by Maggero’s family in Kenya as a “representative”. At this point, KSB will not go into any further analysis over the matter because it is extremely delicate.
“MEMORIAL FUNCTION” PLANNED BY KENYANS IN STOCKHOLM
KSB was informed that another speaker was Mr. George Mengo who read a poem to the mourners. Mr. Mengo, who is one of the few elders in Stockholm, is well known by many Kenyans for not articulating his views in plain language. He is famous for speaking in poetic and sometimes, parabolic terms. He read a poem whose lyrics escaped the grasp of many mourners. A contact who seemed to have been close to understanding the meaning of the poem told KSB that its central message “appeared religious”.
Those who were present at the function included Mr. and Mrs Joseph Goga, Mr. and Mrs Clay Onyango, Mr. and Mrs George Owino, Mr. and Mrs Owili Ongaro, Japuonj Jackline, Mr. Jared Aroka, Mrs Hulda Palm, Mr. Otieno Opee, Mrs Prisca Forsman, Mr. Odhiambo Opee Jr, Mr. Okulo Masala among others.
Conspicuously absent were Mr. Maggero’s closest friends and confidants like Dr. Otieno Wariaro, Mr. Joshua Oyugi and Mr. Jack Mulo.
After the service, a group of Kenyans are planning a “Memorial function” for the late Maggero. A meeting is being planned next week to decide on the details. The general view of those behind the initiative is that Kenyans who knew and loved Maggero need to meet and mourn him in their own unique way. Some members of the community believe that the circumstances were themselves unique and that there is need for “time-out” for some reflection and soul searching.
Okoth Osewe
“Maggero Report” On The Way
The funeral of Mr. James Wuod Maggero appears to be over. As we write, the body might or might not have been cremated because there is no official confirmation. By the time the Church service was held on Friday 12th January, the family had not yet responded to a plea by Kenyans in Stockholm that they wait with cremating the body until Maggero’s family members could send representatives from Kenya to attend the funeral.
Failure by the family to respond to the request was interpreted by Kenyans to mean that the family was not interested in looking at the idea and the general view on Friday was that Maggero would be cremated.
Mr. Maggero’s daughter Hellen and a son in Law, told this writer after a Kenyan meeting on Wednesday this week that the family had banned KSB from attending the service unless the Maggero stories could be pulled down from the blog site.
Given the impossible nature of the condition, KSB opted to keep out of the service. It is the view of KSB that the Maggero stories will not be “cremated” and will remain at the site. KSB is gathering information about the latest on the Maggero case and will post a report on Sunday evening.
Okoth Osewe
ODM-KS To Open Office In Stockholm
ODM-KS will soon open an office in Stockholm from where it can conduct its operations. The office will be opened at Medborgaplatsen in the center of Stockholm so that Party members can have a place to meet on a regular basis. Discussions are already complete and a contract has been signed with the landlord. The Party is expected to occupy the office on 1st February.
According to Mr. Dancan Munala, the Party Secretary, a Party will be held at the precincts of the office to open it officially. ODM-KS is considering hosting the party at the end of January, possibly on Saturday 27th before moving in on February 1st.
In the meantime, the Party has already set up a post Box, opened a bank account and is planning to launch a web site.
Okoth Osewe
Maggero Cremation: Lawyer Hired In Desperate Last Minute Bid
A group of Kenyans have hired a lawyer to try and push forward the funeral of Mr. James Wuod Maggero until his relatives could arrive in Sweden to participate in the process. Anna Von Perner, the lawyer, has already taken contacts with the relevant Swedish authorities to try and push the funeral forward. She has taken contact with the family of the late Maggero, the Church, crematorium and other government agencies to explore possibilities of how she can help.
According to the lawyer, the contacts she has so far talked to have promised that they could delay the cremation although they said that the Friday church service cannot be delayed and will have to continue. She has been unable to take direct contact with Maggero’s wife although she has spoken to Maggero’s daughter Hellen who was at a meeting held on Wednesday by Kenyans to discuss the crisis.
The family has not responded to requests at the meeting that the funeral be delayed until Maggero’s family members could arrive, that the cremation of the body be delayed until friends can pay their last respects and that Kenyans be granted an opportunity to mourn the old man.
An affidavit sent by Maggero’s family in Kenya said that the family has been unable to travel because information about Maggero’s death reached them on the 9th of January giving them very little time to organize to travel to Sweden to attend the funeral scheduled for Friday January 12th.
The affidavit added that Maggero’s family in Kenya has nominated two people to represent them at the burial. The issue has generated a free flow of cultural emotions especially among the Luo community in Sweden who do not see any big problem in extending the burial date with at least one week for Maggero’s family to arrive in Sweden to attend the event.
The big issue is not how the family would like to conduct the funeral or what Mr. Maggero said about his burial but the exclusion of members of his family from the process, a tactic that has also led to the side-lining of basic Luo burial cultures like viewing of the body by relatives and friends who knew Mr. Maggero and time out to congregate and mourn the departed collectively.
However, the most serious issue is also the plan to cremate Mr. Maggero’s body on grounds that this “was his wish” without production of evidence to support the wish. A will that was supposed to clear the issue and which Maggero’s wife confirmed in writing that she had deposited at the Kenyan Embassy appear to have provided false hopes because when the Embassy was contacted, Mr. George Kinywa, the First secretary, said that the institution did not have the will and that it has not been deposited at the Kenyan Embassy. The diplomat said that Maggero’s wife had visited the Embassy but only to inform them that the Kenyan had passed away.
Many Luo’s believe that if Maggero had left a will that his body be cremated or buried in Sweden, it could have been pointless trying to question the manner in which the body was to be disposed of.
The failure to announce Maggero’s death immediately to friends and family members in Kenya and the fact that it was the intention of the family to conceal this information has fuelled suspicions that something is not correct. While friends in Sweden and family members at home were kept in the dark, contacts in India with links to Maggero’s family in Sweden got mail speedily that he had died.
On Wednesday, Maggero’s daughter said that people are coming from Geneva and London to attend the funeral so why can’t people also come from Kenya? This is the crux of the matter because Maggero’s family in Kenya has said that they have already nominated two people but they don’t want to come only to find that the funeral is over. It is not about the struggle over a dead body as some miscreants believe.
When he died, key friends and well known confidants of Maggero were all weeded out of the information arena and even his closest Swedish friends sitting on the Board of the Kenya Swedish Friendship Association (Kesfa) were left swimming in a huge pool of “zero information”.
The funeral is now being hurried and there is no room for Maggero’s close relatives to travel from Kenya to be present at his final send-off. When Kenyans organized a meeting to discuss the strange circumstances, the family of the late sent two representatives to declare the meeting “illegal” but they were quickly attenuated.
Critics cannot understand the explanation that the long delay in releasing news about Maggero’s death was based on the impact of shock and devastation because during this period, elaborate plans to cremate Maggero’s body on Friday the 12th without informing his relatives in Kenya were already complete. Three hours after information swept Stockholm that Maggero had passed away, information about his funeral on the 12th were also announced meaning that during the period of information black-out, lots of activities were also rolling.
Maggero was loved by many people and regardless of what happens next, circumstances surrounding his funeral will, for ever, remain a reference point in many aspects especially on the question of burial in mixed marriages. At Vasa, a joint in Stockholm, the question on the lips of many Kenyans if Maggero is cremated is: “How do we know exactly who is next on the line and how can the new trend of kuchoma Wakenya be addressed?”
Okoth Osewe
Maggero Funeral: Family Sends Affidavit Seeking To Delay Process
Affidavit From Maggero’s Family: Page One
The family of the late James Wuod Maggero has sent a signed affidavit calling for a delay of the funeral process until at least two family members can travel to Sweden to attend the function. The document was sent via fax through the Kenyan Embassy in Stockholm (See scan versions). The Affidavit, which is dated January 11th 2006, has already been mailed to Maggero’s Family in Sweden.
In the meantime, Kenyans in Stockholm yesterday made a passionate plea to the family of the late Maggero to delay the process for Maggero’s relatives to arrive from Kenya. In a meeting held at Continental Hotel and attended by both Mr. Maggero’s daughter and a son in Law, Kenyans made the following requests.
1. That the funeral process of the late Maggero be delayed until his family can arrive from Kenya to attend the burial.
2. That the cremation of Mr. Maggero be delayed so that Kenyans can have the opportunity to view his body and pay their last respects.
3. That the family allow for Kenyans who knew Maggero to mourn the late Mzee in accordance with Luo culture.
The meeting, requested that the family send a response to Kenyans by today Thursday through Mrs Jane Owili who will then communicate to the whole community. Luo’s who were present took time to clarify aspects of the Luo culture which they wanted respected by the late Maggero’s family. The meeting was chaired by Mrs Hellen Opwapo, the Chairlady of ODM-KS while it was attended by several concerned Kenyans including Mr. Jared Aroka, Mr. Joshua Oyugi, Mr. Gerry Midenyo, Mr. Kenneth Aroka, Mrs Caroline Ayodo, Mr. Dancan Munala, Mr. Odhiambo Opee Jr, Mrs Jane Owili among others.
Initially, there was tension when a son in Law of the late Maggero declared the meeting “illegal”, arguing that the issue was a “family matter”. He was quickly overruled by Kenyans who informed him that the community had a right to meet to discuss the issue. Both Maggero’s son in Law and daughter then walked out but after a short time, they came back and they were welcomed at the meeting.
Okoth Osewe
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