Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) Secretary General Edwin Sifuna has revealed that the late Kasipul Member of Parliament (MP) Charles Were will be buried in party colours.
While speaking on Citizen TV on Thursday, May 8, Sifuna expressed that Were’s funeral will be characterised with the party’s orange colours as per the late lawmaker’s wishes before his mysterious demise.
Sifuna disclosed this development in an attempt to explain why the ODM party will be prominent at the legislator's funeral on Friday. The ODM Secretary General added that this should be clearly distinguished from any notion that politics will be the order of the day at the funeral.
“Personally, I am very averse to coming to these funerals where people are dressed in party colours. But you will forgive us on Friday (May 9) because it was Ong’ondo Were’s wish that he be buried in ODM colours,” Sifuna stated.
Were, as per his wish, will supposedly be buried in an orange shirt representing ODM colours. Further, an ODM flag is expected to be draped over his casket as was the case during the burial of the late George Oduor, trusted aide to former Prime Minister Raila Odinga.
Sifuna further added that the funeral would be peaceful amidst reports that there were going to be attempts to scuttle the event. This is as reports are rife that heightened tension has taken over Homa Bay county due to the chilling manner of MP Were’s passing away.
“During the funeral service of MP Were on Wednesday (May 8), we gave assurances (as ODM) that for as long as we all respect the decorum, we expect to have a peaceful sendoff for the Honourable Ong’ondo Were,” Sifuna noted.
This is especially so after lawyer Danstan Omari, representative of politician Philip Nahashon Aroko, who was described as a wanted man in the investigations surrounding MP Were’s murder, alleged that the timing of his summons to appear before the police was a plan to make him fail to attend Were’s funeral.
Aroko, an influential businessman, is said to have huge political interests in Homa Bay and particularly the Kasipul seat, which is now vacant after Were’s demise.
However, Aroko steered clear of any involvement in Were’s murder, attributing his summons to appear before the sleuths as a diversion and tied to local politics in Homa Bay.
MP Were was shot dead on April 30 by an unknown individual who was on a motorbike. According to a police report, the pillion passenger approached the lawmaker's vehicle and fired shots at the MP before jumping back onto the motorcycle and speeding away.
South Mugirango MP Silvanus Osoro, during the requiem mass for the deceased MP, revealed that Were appeared disturbed hours before his fatal shooting.
Osoro disclosed that he and Were spent some time in the gym located at the new Bunge Towers, and the MP was in high spirits and plotting the day.
However, according to Osoro, the late Were started acting suspiciously later in the day. The MP is said to have isolated himself in to corner of the National Assembly chambers.
"That morning before the honourable Were passed on. I and the MP for Ruiru were training at the gym. He was in high spirits, telling us how he wanted to run about the politics of the day," Osoro detailed.
