The county government of Siaya has been asked to secure land for a public cemetery to relieve those residing in towns stress of burying their loved ones.
In the recently concluded public participation on the (County Integrated Development Plan) CIDP 2023-2027, Siaya residents appealed to the county government to consider buying land for a new public cemetery 15 years after the one that was located in Siaya industrial area got filled up.
The lack of a graveyard in the past years, put ex-Governor Cornel Rasanga in a spot as the public demanded space to bury their loved ones.
The situation has again risen in the era of the current Governor James Orengo with residents residing in town areas of Siaya County highlighting it for consideration.
According to CIDP Mentor Kevin Owira, the county has received several proposals from wards on the need to establish a cemetery in Siaya to help the public bury their loved ones since most of them cannot meet expenses for up-country burials.
Kisumu cemetery
Owira said the Muslim community is spending a lot of money on the transportation of the bodies of their loved ones to Kisumu cemetery.
“We are even ready to buy the land,” said Sheikh Mohammed, adding that the situation has brought complications for families that lose their kin while in the urban area and cannot meet expenses for upcountry burials.
However, Owira said they are going to fix it in the five-year CIDP for consideration.
Siaya was surviving on a plot of land adjacent to Siaya probation but it is filled up.
Some families, who failed to contribute money for the transportation of the bodies of their loved ones, abandoned the bodies at the mortuary.
However, Siaya Township Ward MCA James Obiero Otare termed the lack of a cemetery as propaganda saying the space is still intact at the known graveyard in Siaya town.
“Space is still available at the cemetery because 90 per cent of the population in Siaya are Luos who prefer burying their loved ones at their ancestral lands,” Otare said.
He added: “We have a plan to relocate it to the outskirts of Siaya town so as the area be used to put up investments that generate income.”
