Remember the "Raila Baba, Raila Mwana na roho mtakatifu" man?



He is back and wants Okoth's wife to be inherited.

Those Luo council of elders members are just busybodies who have nothing to do. They are known to demand handsomely payment to perform the rituals they are advancing. MP Okoth doesn't have a house/home in Luo nyanza.

If they are serious;

when Okoth came back from majuu around 2011/2012, they would have advised him to build/'beat' a home/house in shaggs, they didnt.

when he became an MP in 2013 and therefore became a national leader they should have advised him to build/'beat' a home/house in shaggs, they didn't.

when he was ailing and there was a point of no return, they should have organized for him and help him build/'beat' a home/house in shaggs, they didn't.

Now this is the most crucial one, when Okoth died, traditionally they should have organised and built a home/house where the body would have been taken. To show you that theirs is odomodomo, nobody even attempted to try to undertake such a simple assignment. So what they are advancing is talk with no substance.

Also Okoth had the means, how come he never built in shaggs?

The Luo Council of Elders has said that Monica must be cleansed. They have given details of the cleansing and way forward...

https://www.the-star.co....inheritance-luo-elders/

Those elders are 100% correct. You shouldn't dismiss them as busy bodies for giving their expert opinion on the matter.

FYI I am also "an expert" on luo culture since I have read widely about the Luo people and their language and culture. Infact I have PDF copies of several PhD thesis detailing the luo and their way of life including the famous one by Prof Ogot - History of the Southern Luo. I should send you a copy since you appear ignorant on matters luo culture.

There are several challenges that the Luo council of elders should consider. For example, how the institution of eldership is conferred and the responsibilities that are implied in eldership.

At the moment I hypothesize that such a council was meant to play an adaptive role in cultural design and engineering. In this case, a post colonial, national and global outlook needs to have inspired a new crop of elders on how to respond to the changed environment.

In this case we could ask ourselves if Monica was married via a customary process and to what extent. Then that could guide the correct ritual design for this occasion.

How he was cremated. Hii ni Hellfire......

Why does he need gloves? The remains have been sterilized by the "hellfire" at 2,000 degrees C for 2 hours.

He was "born tao".

You should understand the importance of those cultural practices (cleansing and wife inheritance) before dismissing them.

After a woman's husband dies, she must engage in sexual intercourse without a condom with a “cleanser,” often a non-relative of the deceased husband, to remove the impurity she is believed to have acquired from the death of her husband. A condom is not used because the practices are considered incomplete unless fluids mix during intercourse. The Luo believe that the death of a husband confers impurity upon the widow and restricts her from participating fully in certain social events. Sexual ritual is thus performed to cleanse her and fully reintegrate her into normal community life.

After a widow has been “cleansed,” she is expected to be inherited by a man, traditionally an in-law. Inheritance is important in that the designated male assumes responsibility for the social and economic support of a widow upon the death of her husband.

For a young widow with children, inheritance by a brother or cousin to the husband allows for continued support by her husband’s extended family. Widows without children or with few children are expected by the extended family to bear children, particularly sons, who would continue the lineage of the deceased husband.

Also many women are widowed young, and fulfillment of sexual desire is a major reason for being inherited.

Aside from the initial cleansing ritual, widows, as well as married women, are expected to observe other sexual norms common in the Luo community. For example, they are expected to engage in sexual intercourse during the establishment of a home; during agricultural cycles such as tilling the land, planting, and harvesting; and when participating in the funeral or marriage ceremonies of some relatives. In each of these cases, a widow must find a sexual partner to help her fulfill these required rites. Fulfilling these sexual rituals often means engaging in sex without a condom, because the practices are considered incomplete unless fluids mix during sexual intercourse . Women engage in these practices to conform to societal norms or because they are compelled to do so by their husbands’ families, their own families, or the belief that engaging in the tradition will ensure that they or their children will not be ostracized or face illness or other misfortunes (chira).

If a woman does not have a resident partner with whom she can carry out ritual sexual practices, she is expected to look for a man with whom to observe the sexual ritual. An inherited widow can observe this ritual with the inheritor when such occasions arise, but a widow who is not inherited has to seek another man with whom to observe the sexual rituals.

As you can see those practices are important to ensure the welfare of the woman in luo society.

The elders believed that Ken was still a young man who had time to build a home in the village. But now that tragedy had occurred they had to play their role by giving advice on the way forward. So don't blame the wazee for doing their job.

Also I believe that this cremation issue put into disarray the rites that should have happened before, during and after interment. Could this be why cremation was chosen, despite it being basically unknown in the community?