A Kisumu Member of County Assembly (MCA) has angered businessmen in the county after drafting a motion seeking to ban the sale of coffins near hospitals.
Jacktone Onunga from Nyalenda ward is planning to introduce the motion on the floor of the House claiming that the presence of coffins near health facilities, had been traumatizing and 'killing' most patients.
According to the ward representative, moving the businesses away from patients would help restore confidence rather than make them feel closer to death.
"Many people have complained about the presence of coffins next to hospitals. Moving them will restore confidence in most patients because when most of them see the coffins, they feel half dead," said Onunga.
The move elicited criticism from businessmen in the town, who asked the MCA to stop joking and concentrate on motions that transform the lives of Kisumu people and not those killing their livelihood.
“Our presence cannot lead to the death of patients. At what point does a critically ill person raise his or her head to look at coffins? We do not celebrate the death of people, but it is just business,” one of the traders was quoted by the Standard.
The traders threatened to increase their rates and pass on the financial burden to residents if they were ejected from their area of operation.
