Villagers burn Miguna's effigy

By Nicholas Anyuor

Villagers angered by the writings of Miguna Miguna carried his effigy demonstrated against him and even bought a coffin which they burned and poured ashes in a river.

In small tiny dusty and rusty township of Ahero near Lake Victoria, there were emotional reactions laced with political messages just because Miguna Miguna had attacked Prime Minister Raila Odinga, a man they considered a hero in his book Peeling Back the Mask.

Women, youths and the elderly people alike demonstrated along the Kisumu-Nairobi highway, causing a traffic snarl-up for over three hours.

Chants, ululations and whistle blowing rent the air as villagers jigged in fits of anger and protest.

They were not done. Armed with the coffin the demonstrators sang funeral dirges and sounded drums of mourning borrowed from the Luo rituals of death and cleansing and performed routines required in fending off evils that cause death.

Earlier, the demonstrators threatened to stage a mock burial at Miguna’s home in Buoye, few Kilometres from Ahero township, but it was later shelved and the effigy of Miguna and a ‘coffin’ were instead burnt to ashes at Ahero-Kisii junction.

And the ashes too were sprinkled on River Nyando hoping the evil spirits flow all the way to Egypt leaving behind a ‘cleansed village.

The protesters, were led by Nyando MP, Fred Outa, prepared the coffin from cartons together with an effigy of Miguna Miguna, which they carried shoulder high along the road before burning them.

Some of the placards carried by the protesters had unpublishable graffiti.

The ‘coffin’ that had a red cross over it had an inscription, “R.I.P Miguna,’ as demonstrators gave armed police hectic time to control the traffic along the Kisumu-Nairobi highway.

They claimed he has been a bad child of the village who does not obey his people. We are fed up with him,” said a demonstrator who only identified himself as Ochieng’.