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
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