A man in Kakamega who is mourning the loss of his wife was dealt another blow as his in-laws made away with money that was meant to cater for the deceased's burial.
The wife, Dorcas was among eight killed when a lorry rammed into traders at Kaburengu trading centre on the Eldoret–Webuye Highway on August 24.
Following the tragedy, the county government allocated Ksh85,000 to the families of the victims to cater for funeral costs.
According to the distraught man, the family of the wife claimed the compensation stating it would cater for dowry.
"It is not fair that they took the money that was meant for the funeral and left me with the responsibility of burying my wife and I still have the children with me," he told journalists.
He added that he tried to reach out to the in-laws to reach to an agreement to grant the deceased a decent send-off.
"I tried negotiating with them to take Ksh35,000 and I use the Ksh50,000 for the funeral but they declined and I even went to ask them to interchange and they take the bigger portion instead but they still refused," the man explained.
Neighbours joined calls for the family to return the money to lay the wife to rest noting that it was not the right time for that.
According to Luhya traditions, when a woman dies before her husband pays dowry the family will be obliged to pay the dowry or the wife’s family takes their daughter back to bury her.
Similarly, a man cannot attend his father-in-laws funeral until he pays dowry.
Following the tragic accident that left 14 other people wounded, Deputy Governor Philip Kutima stated that the county would purchase land in the area for a market to accommodate the traders as he noted that selling at the roadside left them exposed to dangers and accidents.
“We will construct a modern market at Kaburengu to save traders from accidents. This place is an accident hotspot and in most cases, traders are the ones affected,” Kutima stated while checking on survivors in hospital.
