As the Maggero cremation saga continues to unfold, it has emerged that the issue of cremation and burial in Sweden does not appear anywhere in his will. KSB has eventually tracked down Maggero’s wife and interviewed her on critical issues that have been doing the rounds since news about Maggero’s death hit Stockholm.
When reached on her phone line at her country house retreat, the wife said that the family continues to be in mourning and was very upset with discussions among Kenyans about her intention to cremate Maggero’s body.
KSB: “And why does the family want to cremate the body”
Wife: Because that is what he wanted. He used to speak about it all the time. If you knew him well, you should know this”.
KSB: “Who in particular could he have told because Dr. Otieno Wariaro who was his confidant does not know this”.
Wife: “Otieno knows”
KSB: “But Otieno has said that Maggero told him that he wanted to be buried in Kenya next to his mother”
Wife: “He is lying”
KSB: “When are you taking the will to the Kenyan Embassy?”
Wife: It is already there.
KSB: Does the will say that Maggero wanted his body to be cremated?”
Wife: “No. But that is what he wanted”
Mr. Maggero’s wife was not very friendly although KSB tried to maintain a high level of discipline, sensitivity and human compassion during the 7 minute contact on the phone. She said that Maggero hated the practice of fund raising to take a body to Kenya when people in Kenya are very poor. “I am simply doing what he wanted”, she said.
CONTACTS WITH KENYA EMBASSY
When KSB called the Kenyan Embassy, Mr. George Kinywa, the First secretary, said that the late Maggero’s wife was at the Embassy but that she never left any will with the institution.
“She came to inform us that Mr. Maggero was dead. We don’t have any will and the Embassy has nothing to do with it”, Mr. Kinywa said.
The Kenyan diplomat said that the Embassy could not even have accepted to act as a custodian of the will because it is a private property which has nothing to do with the government.
“We are treating the issue as a family matter and we do not intend to interve”, he said. According to Mr. Kinywa, the Embassy can only take action if instructions come from Kenya’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
CONSPIRACY THEORY STRENGTHENED
When KSB asked Maggero’s wife why she is rushing the funeral even before Maggero’s relatives could have time to travel from Kenya to attend the funeral, she said:
“That is how it is done in Sweden. That is the time we got. If I got an earlier time, I could have taken it”.
The wife said that the family could not break the news about Mr. Maggero’s death immediately because they were devastated and that they needed to take a break in order to mourn.
News that the issue of cremation and burial in Sweden is not in Maggero’s will has further strengthened a conspiracy theory that has been doing the rounds in Stockholm to the effect that the family is in a hurry to convert Maggero’s body into ashes so as to eliminate possibilities of the old man’s relatives in Kenya getting involved in discussions about possibilities of him being buried in Kenya.
The fact that Maggero’s wife lied that he deposited the will with the Embassy has also raised new questions about her sincerity over her intentions to use “hear-say” to cremate Mr. Maggero’s body.
“He used to say that to everybody and if he did not tell you then you did not know him” is what is being used to send Maggero’s body to the crematorium with lightning speed.
“MAGGERO WANTED TO BE BURIED NEXT TO HIS MOTHER”
According to Dr. Otieno Wariaro, the late Maggero’s confidant, Maggero told him that he wanted to buried in Kenya next to his mother’s grave. A white Swedish national who was also very close to Mr. Maggero and who has been a long standing member of Kenya Swedish Friendship Association was quoted as having said that Mr. Maggero had told him that he wanted to be buried in Kenya.
Mr. Jack Mulo, a Kenyan who was one of the last people to have talked to Mr. Maggero on Christmas eve told KSB that when Maggero communicated to Dr. Wariaro, he tentatively “identified his burial site”.
KSB has confirmed that Dr. Wariaro was suddenly blocked from visiting Mr. Maggero in hospital days before he passed away. A directive had been given to hospital staff by the family that only the “next of kin” could visit him. Maggero then began to complain that Dr. Wariaro had not visited him for two weeks and wondered why the Doctor had suddenly disappeared.
Apparently, Maggero was never told that a directive had been given limiting visits. Shortly after, Maggero was put on a respirator and transferred to the ICU. When he died, the family never informed Dr. Wariaro that his best friend had died. Was Dr. Wariaro sidelined when Maggero was still alive for strategic reasons that could hamper the family blue print on his final resting place? If Maggero’s will doesn’t say that he should be cremated, why can’t he just be given a decent burial even if it must be in Sweden?
Mr. Michael Osumba, a friend of Maggero who met the late in 1959, told KSB that the family is not in a position to understand the long-term impact of what they are about to do because they are already focused on cremating Maggero which, he said, “is a bit extreme” under the circumstances.
During contacts with KSB, Maggero’s wife said that her husband’s body will not be cremated on Friday but when asked about the exact day of cremation, she said that she did not know.
A Priest who is responsible for prayers before cremation said that it is possible to postpone the event “even with three months” but that instructions must come from the late Maggero’s wife.
MAGGERO’S SONS IN KENYA, TANZANIA AND FINLAND
Efforts are still being made by Maggero’s relatives in Kenya to convince the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Kenya to write a note to the Kenyan Embassy so that the funeral can be delayed until a family member can arrive in Sweden to attend the funeral with or without cremation.
A public meeting has also been called by Kenyans to discuss if there is anything the community can do to help. Legally, the only option is to try and plead with Maggero’s wife to be sensitive and push the funeral forward so that members of Maggero’s family in Kenya can also have a say over the issue.
Information has reached KSB that Maggero’s first wife is still alive and lives in Kenya. He has a son who is also still alive in Kenya while he has another son in Tanzania who is also alive. Further, the Mzee has a son in Finland who only knew about the death two days ago.
Contrary to reports in an earlier posting at KSB on the Maggero saga, the old mzee had four and not two daughters in Sweden. Concerns were raised by Maggero’s son in Finland who informed Mr. Jared Aroka that he was disappointed with the fact that he had not been informed about the death of his father when it happened.
Maggero’s sons resident in both Kenya and Tanzania will definitely not be able to travel (even if they wanted to) for a final farewell because of the hurried nature of the funeral which many Kenyans believe, could be delayed so that all stake holders could be represented in the whole process.
As it is at the moment, it is Maggero’s Swedish wife and her four daughters who are running the show. They are seeking to cremate the late Maggero’s body with the kind of speed which can only be compared to the speedy execution of Saddam Hussein’s by his captors shortly before New year.
Okoth Osewe
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