Response to the late Phillip Owili’s brother Nathan Hassan on claims of sabotage by the Owili funeral committee
I’m writing as the Secretary of the late Owili’s funeral committee to refute very strongly the assertions made by Mr. Nathan Hassan that we connived with Mrs. Jane Owili to deny him money for the air ticket to travel to Kenya to bury his brother. Firstly, I wish make it very clear to Mr Hassan and all concerned that WE neither want to get involved NOR be drawn into what is obviously a very “infected” family feud. My goal for this response is to clarify to you Mr. Hassan our mandate as a funeral committee and to briefly explain why we made the decision to hand over the money raised to the Owili family.
Briefly, our mandate as a committee was to support the Owili children to bury their father and also to respond to Phillips mother’s plea to transport the body of his son back home to Kenya. We made it very clear to Jane Owili and the children that our priority and immediate goal as a funeral committee was to raise the 45,000 kronor for “begravnings bureau” (the amount is a discount, actual cost is 47,000!). This is the amount required for the embalmment and transportation of the remains of the deceased home.
Raising money for the tickets for the family members was ONLY a secondary goal. The committee informed the family right from the start that the target amount estimated at 70,000 kronor was by no means a ‘small sum’ because during the past month, the Kenyan community lost 3 members and funds had been raised to support the bereaved families. While we were optimistic that Kenyans would support the Owili family, we were also realistic and from the start, we asked the family to look for alternative sources of money to purchase the tickets in the likelihood that we did not reach estimated target amount because we knew that by the 15th of December, the cost of the air tickets would rise.
While the Kenyan community and friends of the Owilis spared no effort during the harambee to raise as much funds as possible and indeed raised a commendable sum of 42,000 we fell short of reaching our primary target On Sunday the 6th of December, when we met after the harambee, the committee had to make a choice of either sending Phillips body home or buying tickets for members of the family. We chose to hand over the raised funds to Jane Owili to immediately (by Monday morning) take the entire sum + 3000 kronor of her own to the funeral services to start preparing the body for transportation home.
At he same time, we asked Jane to dip into her savings or appeal to friends for support to raise extra funds for the tickets. If Hassan wants support to buy his ticket then we are ready to listen. But he is not going to draw the whole committee into mudslinging and family conflicts that we have absolutely no interests in. The committee has worked tirelessly and selflessly to ensure that the remains of his brother reach home and we would urge him to spare us the embarrassment of “washing his family’s dirty linen in public”
Dr Margaret Obondo
Secretary
Philip Owili Funeral Committee
About the Author
Real sabotage no doubt. What a bogus committee of sellouts.
Nanngo uru,
An kaka Odera nyocha amor.Makanyo ne watieko kaka jo gweng.Moko mawuok bathe go to turo’ mana wat.
Omiyo wa terr’e uru mos.
Ean
Woud Luo
Odera
As usual Tony Odera is a sleeping giant.
I stand by the committees decision. Agar Gaya
Let my uncle rest in peace and stop overloading the family with more unnecessary venom in form of uncalled for relaying information. You are hurting Owili`s children.
Be human and considerate and take it into account that
they will mourn the loss of their father in a long time.
Keep your news to yourselves. Not everyone wants to hit the headlines when they have left this world to go and rest.
. Can’t people realise that grief as a reasult of a relative is painful enough for especially Owillis tender loving children. What comes up obout their family is distasteful even if they have been supported. Who will never be faced with death? This continuous issues are unhealthy and should come to a stop.
Thu! Oromo yawa!
Jacquie Opiyo
Jacquie Opiyo, who the hell do you think you are to come here and start playing policewoman? There is something called freedom of expression and I don’t understand why you are trying to stop debate on this issue when it is clear that in this case, there are two sides of the coin. Somebody’s brother who discovered his body was locked outside his apartment by the same family and this should be unacceptable (or evil) to any observer regardless of the circumstances.
The fact that Kenyans and friends contributed money so that Owili’s body could be transported to Kenya is proof that people were sympathetic and cared about the situation. You don’t have to tell people to leave Owili to rest in peace because everybody wants him to. I rarely comment here but your arrogant post has irritated me.
Similarly, the fact that some Kenyans raised Hassan’s ticket within a very short time after he was allegedly “cheated” also shows that there are people who were sympathetic with Owili’s brother. It is idiotic to come to this forum with unnecessary warnings and my advice to you is, either contribute to the debate or shut up your mouth. Stop being emotional simply because Owili was your uncle otherwise you will begin to look silly.
Owili’s case is not the first or the last in which issues are emerging after death. If you have any memory left in your brain, the SM Otieno case was even taken to court by the SM clan and those who were following the story can tell you what happened. The Owili case is nothing compared to the SM case where the lawyer’s will was thrown out of the window before he was buried in Nyalgunga. Yes, Owili was your uncle but I would advice you to go slowly especially on issues touching on freedom of speech in a public forum on an issue which played itself before the public. Don’t be simple minded.
Jacquie Opiyo, public funds were involved in Owili’s funeral and eventual burial (R.I.P). However, lecturing Kenyans because the late was your uncle, only shows how naive and biased you are in handling both sets of critics and sympathizers as it were. Risper’s stern position above explains it all.
The Funeral Committee was condemned for reneging on its promise to offer Philip’s brother, Hassan, his share of the harambee money.
Hassan is on record at KSB condemning “those women” as he called them, for having duped him. If you respect Owili and wish his family peace, then open your eyes beyond personal emotions which will not be taken kindly by those who have followed the saga since his body was discovered by the brother.
Take it as emphasized by Risper, that all have the freedom of speech, and I repeat that the funeral involved public money. You can therefore take your emotions to the loo and puke them.
Jacquie Opiyo should get a life and stop being emotional about her family ties with the late Owili. Her one-sided approach to the funeral controversy will not change what the public thinks of the Committee. Records are clear that Owili’s brother was shortchanged. Instead, Jacquie is behaving like Kenyan politicians who will deny their own words used in the media because of arrogance.
Kenyans were sympathetic to the late Owili’s family and did a remarkable harambee to send the body home as soon as possible. Jacquie should thank Kenya-Stockholmers instead so as to ease off the condemnation the Owili Funeral Committee will face forever.
She is definitely not thankful to those who raised Hassan’s fare (8000kr) to bury his brother. She equally misses out in mentioning that the Committee could have been wrong in promising Hassan a share of the cash. Whichever way, her thinking only fuels the debate that might have died so that the family can move on.
Kenyans won’t be quiet because they have a stake in Owili’s funeral and burial through the harambee. Jacquie is the one who should shut up and let the family be.
Jacquie let Kenyans express themselves until they exhaust the topic. Controversies involving Kenyan funerals are normal and will always be there. Those commenting are doing so on the basis of what is recorded at KSB, so stop unnecessary emotions which will not change what many Kenyans think of the Owili Funeral Committee.
Lili i think u r almost with it..
it looks like every1 (well wat iv read) is basing the debate on wat was posted on KSB. dnt forget assupmtion is the mutha of all f*** ups. Daam luk now av been drawn into this debate… lol.. i think we r luking for CNN of wat REALLY happened during the two weeks or wat is happening i the family. CNN is always sweet i knw coz i like it too.. sounds like realiity tv to me . am also a strong believer in karma.. i wonder how many have cursed me already knwing us kenyans.. hopefully i will hav smething to laugh at…
dvs, CNN is good but sometimes if you are not closer to the bone, you depend on KSB. The whole story is so transparent yet when somebody wants to twist it in her favor, then you read a confused mind. If Jacquie had divulged more than what KSB gave, then we could add more to the debate, otherwise it is skewed. Anyway, like you, I believe in the law of moral causation whether good or bad.
it looks like every1 (well wat iv read) is basing the debate on wat was posted on KSB. dnt forget assupmtion is the mutha of all f*** ups. Daam luk now av been drawn into this debate… lol.. i think we r luking for CNN of wat REALLY happened during the two weeks or wat is happening i the family. CNN is always sweet i knw coz i like it too.. sounds like realiity tv to me . am also a strong believer in karma.. i wonder how many have cursed me already knwing us kenyans.. hopefully i will hav smething to laugh at…
Jacquie thinks she can control the feelings of Kenyans. Risper really put her where she belongs.