Dead Man Resurrects to Reclaim His Inheritance in Western Kenya

Piece by: Kwarula Otieno
Lifestyle

A family in IIlesi sub-location, Shinyalu constituency in Kakamega County was left in disbelief after a son they expelled from their midst and later buried him after thinking he had died resurfaced causing panic in the entire village.

Kennedy Matayo, 45, left home in 1990 after being branded an outcast.

His family had accused him of allegedly sodomising his three-year-old nephew, killing him and dousing the body in acid.

Matayo, the fifth son in his family, unsuccessfully tried to commit suicide.

He was arrested and charged, but nobody came forward to testify against him.

Matayo was released, but was banished from the community.

As a young man in his 20s, Matayo then moved to West Pokot, where he did manual jobs.

Chief Samuel Segero said Matayo’s father Barnaba Shiboko later received word that he had been killed by a mob in Kakamega.

The family went to the mortuary and picked a body believed to be Matayo’s.

As he was still an outcast, according to the community’s customs, he could not be buried in his rightful home.

“The family could not bring the body home for burial but instead took it to the Kakamega cemetery and hurriedly buried it,” he said.

Matayo’s brother Peter Shilili, whose son had allegedly been killed by Matayo, said: “When I heard my young brother had been killed, I thought in my heart that justice had been served.”

Shilili, 53, said he heard his brother had been killed by a mob that accused him of stealing a sufuria and a hen.

On his return, Matayo declared that he was back to demand for his land inheritance.

When family members identified him, they tried to attack him, but he was saved by police, who took him to the chief’s camp for safety.

Before his father died in 2004, he divided his land between his two sons, thinking Matayo was dead.

Shilili said the local administration should keep Matayo away from them to avoid bloodshed.

Matayo said although he regrets what he did he still needs a place to stay.

Courtesy The Star