Kenya Stockholm Blog

Joseph Munene, whose mother passed away last week, left for Kenya on Sunday morning and is currently home to attend his mother’s funeral. On Saturday, Friends, well-wishers and sympathizers congregated in Alby to condole with the bereaved family and to pray for them following the loss of a loved member.

The Prayers were led by Mrs Josephine Kirigo who opened the Prayer session by leading the mourners in singing gospel songs. Josephine then delivered a brief sermon before praying for the departed soul and surviving members of the family. After prayers, the floor was opened for mourners to address the crowd that had gathered at Alhagvsvägen to show solidarity with Nzoro’s family.

In his address, Man Nzoro said that his mother had been ailing for some time and that last month, he got an opportunity to travel to Kenya to meet her. He said that when he returned from Kenya about two weeks ago, it did not occur to him that his mother would pass away too soon. He said that at the time of her death, his mom had requested that she be moved from the hospital because she wanted to go home. He said that this request was granted and her mom was moved from the ICU to receive medical care from home where she passed away. Nzoro thanked all those who attended the Prayer Meeting at short notice.

Addressing the crowd, Jared Odero, a close friend of Nzoro, congratulated Kenyans who had come to show solidarity with the bereaved family. Jared said that Kenyans in Stockholm should remain united especially in times of grief and that they should not allow themselves to be influenced by ethnic politics that had divided Kenya.

He said that apart from the Nzoro bereavement, the Kenyan community was currently faced with the task of transporting the body of the late Michael Osumba to Kenya and appealed to Kenyans for solidarity. He defended the practice of Kenyans insisting on transporting bodies of their dead for burial in Kenya, arguing that the Swedes were doing the same whenever their people died abroad.

Prominent Kenyans who were present at the gathering included Man Gitash, Man Steve, Man Karare, Man Muchiri, Mrs. Muirani, Man Johnny, Man Mike, Mrs. Nzoro among others. Majority of the guests stayed put until 5.00hrs when the last guest left the venue.

The meeting was dominated with discussions about Kenyan politics, developments within Kenya-Stockholm society and inter-personal issues. The session was presided over by Mr. Laban Mberi as the MC who guided the crowd until mid-night before the guests were left to chat freely. Nzoro’s mom will be buried on Thursday, 19th September 2013.

Okoth Osewe