Burial of man killed by Senator Boni Khalwale's bull stopped

Investigation into the death of the caretaker of Kakamega Senator Boni Khalwale's bull took a twist yesterday after the police stopped his burial.

Police said the body will undergo a second postmortem.

Kizito Amukune alias Moi was reportedly killed by the Senator's fighting bull on Saturday night.

According to the postmortem conducted on Monday at the Kakamega General Hospital, Amukune died due to excessive bleeding.

On Wednesday morning, his family was shocked when they went to collect the body ahead of the burial today.

Police turned them away, saying they would seek a second opinion from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations headquarters in Nairobi.

"We received complaints from the public that the deceased was not killed by the bull but by a person and we consulted the state, which is now acting on behalf of the public," said Ikolomani Sub-County OCPD Benjamin Wambua.

Wambua said they also consulted the family, which agreed that they comprehensively establish the cause of death.

"What we are avoiding is the exhumation process and that is why we are not leaving anything to chance. We consulted the family and it is on that note that we did not take a court order to stop the burial preparations."

But the deceased's father Maurice Odanga denied this. "We are in agreement with the postmortem result but were shocked this morning when we went to collect the body only for the police to show up blocking us from collecting the body," said Odanga.

"We want police to unearth who are these people blocking the burial and yet we are his immediate kin. We have not complained or asked for a second postmortem."

Odanga blamed the matter on politics.

"If people want a political fight with Khalwale and to get mileage out of it they should sort it elsewhere. I am aggrieved. I am mourning and if it is dissatisfaction with the autopsy report it should be me. I want to bury my son to put this matter to an end."

The family said they had already encountered losses having hired a hearse, bought a casket and food for the mourners.

Khalwale called for the speedy investigation to allow the bereaved to bury their beloved one in peace.

"We know people are taking advantage of the poor family to gain political mileage. I want to assure the public not to fall into the baseless and unfounded statements from nobodys who have been sent by their masters to peddle lies," he said.

"We want police to get to the bottom of this matter and when the police from Ikolomani came asking for more time for further investigations I advised the family to accept because we want clear and true information of what happened."

On Monday, the Senator, some of his family members, workers, neighbours and the family of the deceased recorded statements with the police.

The killer bull christened Inasio (kneecap) was the reigning champion of the Kakamega Bullfighting League after it was crowned on January 1.

According to Khalwale, the bull was named after his father, who he said was a renowned wrestler.

"My father never lost any match and he used to shout "inasio" after winning a match and when I asked him the meaning of the name and his winning secret, he told me it is a certain hard bone on the knee that makes him win the game and that is why I gave my bull the name," he said Khalwale.

Inasio has been the reigning champion in the Western Bulls Champions League, according to Khalwale. "He has been the undisputable champion and we are going to unveil his replacement in December this year."

Austine Manase, the Kakamega Bullfighting Association treasurer, said the tournament will continue despite the death of the champion bull.

"The league had just started and Inasio was in group A, which has 15 most fierce competitors and we have three more groups," he said.

"Inasio was the first bull to defeat a reigning champion in a record three minutes. It's said he is no more but we have enough bulls to replace him even as I feel finding his match will take time."