Professional mourning is exactly what it sounds like- hiring actors to come to a funeral and pretend to care and think what you may, but is a now a source of employment.
Journalists from Citizen spoke to 21-year old, Daniel Ochieng, a professional mourner from Migori county, to find out what it's like to have a job that seems too ridiculous to be true.
The mourner who is also a comedian explained that mourning is a talent which can earn them as a much as Ksh10,000 in a day.
For a regular funeral, they charge Ksh1000 per session, which is defined as a period within the funeral where they are required to cry.
The first, which is the most serious, is when the body is being taken from the mortuary to the homestead.
There, they cry so much that even people who did not know the deceased think that he was loved and respected in his family.
The second session is when the body arrives at the homestead for the burial, which carries on up until genuine mourners are quiet.
The other session is conducted as the catering crew serves food to the guests and extends until the body has been buried.
Ochieng took pride in the fact that they had no competition in this peculiar job and urged the government to recognise them by giving them permits and licences as the Professional mourners of Kenya.
Many people argue that it is wrong to profit from funerals and people who are grieving. It can also seem distasteful to trick other attendees and family members by ‘manufacturing’ emotions at a funeral.
