A family in Siaya County embarrassed an ODM Member of Parliament (MP) after he and his opponents purposefully hijacked the funeral of their kin and turned it into a political rally.
The politicians; Bondo MP Gideon Ochanda, Member of County Assembly (MCA) Aggrey Dimo and aspirant John Ondiwo disgusted mourners after they exchange insults at the funeral.
The family of the deceased, Boaz Oyoga, found the politicians' behaviour distasteful and demanded that they pay a venue fee as penalty for turning the funeral into a political rally.
Nicholas Ochieng, who was the son of the deceased, termed the politicians behaviour as an embarrassment to the occasion.
It is then he demanded the opportunistic politicians pay Sh50,000 for the venue as they would for any other political event.
“It’s an embarrassing situation that you (politicians) take ordinary citizens for granted. You have turned the burial of my father into a battle ground for your political supremacy which is very wrong,” he said.
The politicians traded harsh words as they accused each other of sabotage during the ODM primaries.
The incumbent MCA, Dimo, who is running as an independent, set the ball rolling after he publicly blamed the ODM MP for his failure to capture the Orange party ticket.
During the verbal altercation, Ondiwo termed the Bondo MP a lame duck in parliament and called for his removal from office. The legislator, however, defended himself warning his opponents against tarnishing his development record.
Ochanda refuted claims of meddling in the MCA race that saw Ondiwo lose the party ticket, arguing that he was busy fighting for his own seat. At this point, the MCA shouted from seat accusing Ochanda of misleading mourners.
The family was forced to intervene, forcing the politicians to pay for the venue, a move that was applauded by the gathered mourners.
To avoid further shame, the politicians had no choice but to comply and pay the fee. It was however not clear if they paid the full amount of Sh50,000 each.
