25 mourners from Mombasa held at Siaya quarantine centre

Health authorities in Siaya are holding 25 people who traveled from Mombasa to bury a relative in the county.

The Standard learnt that the 25 had accompanied the body of the late Evans Odongo Otieno- a trade unionist who died at Tononoka in Mombasa after an illness.

Among those being held at the Siaya Kenya Medical Training Center for Covid-19 screening include the deceased's widow- Ann Wekesa and her three young children.

The group had ferried the body for burial at Ndira village in Sakwa when health officials and police asked them to report to the MTC since they did not have covid-19 free certificates when they left Mombasa.

The County Director of Public Health, Kennedy Orwenjo said the 25 had not been put into quarantine but were still being processed and screened to establish whether or not they met the quarantine threshold.

"We are still trying to determine whether they meet the threshold of being quarantined for 14 days," said Orwenjo

Sources said the mourners were rounded up and taken to the center after it emerged they had no Covid-19 test certificates and that a medical report for the deceased did not state the cause of death, given that Mombasa was a hot spot.

One of the mourners being held at the Siaya MTC, Mr Antony Omondi said they had not broken any rules, adding that they were only 23 and not 25people.

"They are telling us we have been brought here because we didn't have covid-19 free certificates but if this a requirement, why were we allowed through so many roadblocks all the way from Mombasa?"  he posed.

It is also alleged that the mourners only had a letter from the Chief in Tononoka and no other documents from the government.

Covid-19 safety guidelines dictate that not more than 15 people are allowed to accompany a body being ferried for burial.

Siaya Governor Cornell Rasanga had two weeks ago issued tough measures on burial in Siaya. He said no dead body should be ferried into the county from outside.