The body of the late Juliet Kavinga, a 35 year old Kenyan woman who was murdered by a Swede in May last year, left for Kenya today Tuesday 12th September. The final journey was facilitated by a fundraising held on Friday, September 1st and which was organized by the Juliet Committee in Stockholm.
At the fund raising, 37.000 kr was raised while during a memorial service held for Juliet at St Klara church last Friday, another 8.000 kr was raised. The International Red Cross donated an extra 1.500 while St Klara church chipped in with 1.000 kr. Together with the latest amount that has been collected by the Juliet Committee, the total and final amount that was raised for Juliet stands at approximately 48.000 kr.
The cost of transporting the body by Fidelia AB is 18.000 kr and this leaves a balance of about 30.000 kr that will be sent to the family in Kenya.
A serious debate has been raging within the Juliet Committee as to how the balance of 30.000 kr should reach Juliet’s family in Kenya. According to a section of the Committee, the whole amount, which totals to about 300.000 Kenyan shillings should be sent to the mother at once via Western Union while according to another camp, Ksh 80.000 should be sent to the family immediately to take care of funeral expenses then the remaining Ksh 210.000 be sent in bits of Ksh 10.000 to the mother for the next 21 months.
The argument by the “send the whole amount” camp is that the Committee needs to wash its hands especially on the money issue by sending the whole amount at once. They argue that regardless of the capacity of the mother to handle a large amount of money, the Committee should not with-hold money to be paid in bits in the future and that whatever happens after the money is sent should not be the business of the Committee. According to this camp, the Committee should send the Ksh 210.000 via Western Union to the mother then forget about what happens next.
On the other hand, the “send the money in bits” camp argue that since Committee members are not familiar with Juliet’s family, there was a huge risk that the huge amount of money might create a conflict within the family before or after Juliet’s burial with unforeseen consequences. The “send the money in bits” camp think that after the funeral, money should be sent monthly to Juliet’s mother through an account opened by her in Kenya. This camp argue that the Committee needs to put the long term economic assistance of Juliet’s family into consideration using the extra money that had been raised by Kenyans and friends.
When the issue was brought to vote, the “send the whole amount” camp won and currently, the Treasurer is in the process of finalizing accounts so that cash can be sent to Juiet’s mother through Western Union. The two camps represented two opinions which had been expressed by Kenyans and friends who contributed towards the Juliet kitty.
Okoth Osewe
makosewe@gmail.com
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