Strange events Ken Okoth widow has encountered since his death

The strange events she has encountered since her husband succumbed to colorectal cancer two weeks ago have left her astonished and in a rather unfamiliar territory.

During a special requiem at Moi Girls’ Nairobi last week, Monica Lavender Ambrossino Okoth, the widow of Kibra MP Ken Okoth, heaped praise on her fallen husband as she celebrated the life they shared for close to two decades as a couple.

“Being Ken’s wife was the greatest honour in my life. He was the most intelligent man I ever met. I want to thank the people of Kibra. You welcomed me to your families and home. I have learnt so much from different cultures,” she said.

Spilled beans

But three days after Okoth’s contentious cremation, Monica was  shocked by the rather overwhelming and bizarre cultural demands she faced from the kinsmen of a man she revealed she knew for 21 years.

Since Thursday, Monica has kept off the media even as elders and close relatives of her late husband pointed an accusing finger at her for allegedly determining the final burial rites for her husband, with a section of Okoth’s family saying she was behind his cremation.

Monica could not have been prepared for the revelation made by Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko during Okoth’s funeral service last week, when he spilled the beans claiming that had sired a child with Nairobi MCA Anne Muthoni Thumbi .

A day later, Thumbi obtained a court order stopping the burial or cremation of the late MP until her son, Jayden, whom she claims she sired with Okoth, was included in the burial arrangements.

And even before the dust of Sonko’s bombshell settled, a group of elders from her late husband’s rural home are laying out demands that she must be inherited in line with tradition.

The elders have now vowed to ensure that she undergoes the rites after her husband’s demise.

A day after she failed to accompany her mother-in-law to Kabondo to perform the traditional rites, Luo elders have yet again turned the gun on Monica saying she is, therefore, not entitled to inherit her late husband’s estate.

Chairman of faction of Luo Council of Elders Nyandiko Ogadi said her absence signifies she was not married to the deceased.

“The fact that she did not accompany her mother-in-law to mourn at home means she is not the legitimate wife,” he said, adding that she only qualifies to be the legal wife if her dowry was paid.

“As per now, what has happened shows that this woman was like a girlfriend to the late MP because our tradition demands that for you to marry a woman, then you must pay dowry,” Ongadi said.

Yesterday, efforts to get comments from Monica were fruitless as her phone went unanswered.

The Luo elder added that in the event the late Okoth’s family pay dowry for Thumbi, then she will automatically be the legitimate wife.

Yesterday, Ongadi said Okoth’s family must organise to pay dowry in the event that the child’s DNA results turn positive.

Culture condemned

On Sunday, Okoth’s maternal family buried a banana stem to signify his burial.

The brief ceremony was conducted at Ogenga village in Kabondo Kasipul, Homa Bay county, where Okoth’s mother, Angeline Ajwang. Luo elders had earlier suggested that Monica be inherited by a male relative, preferably Okoth’s brother.

Ongadi wanted Monica to perform traditional rites twe chola, which required her to wear her husband’s clothes during the mourning period.

Women leaders from the Nyanza region condemned the cultural requirements with Kisumu Woman Representative Rosa Buyu saying: “These are some of the retrogressive aspects of the Luo culture that must be done away with. Okoth died on July 26 at the age of 41.