Family refuses to bury inmate who died on transit

The family of a prisoner who died on transit has declined to bury him until independent investigations are done to determine the cause of his death.

Herit Ali, 80, was being transferred from Mandera GK prison to Garissa GK prison when he died on the way and his body was taken to Wajir District Hospital Mortuary last week on Tuesday, according to Wajir Police County Commander Samuel Mukindia.

Mukindia said Ali had been charged in a Mandera court for being in Kenya illegally and was sentenced to serve five years.

“He was among 14 prisoners, who were being transferred to Garissa to complete their sentence, when he died in Takaba. The Mandera based officers who were escorting him brought him to Wajir mortuary before proceeding to Garissa with the rest of the prisoners,” he said.

However, Ali’s family, led by his uncle Abdi Rashid are crying foul. Rashid said Ali was arrested while in good health condition and may have been beaten before his death.

He added they are in contact with their lawyer and a private pathologist to conduct a postmortem before burying the deceased. “We want to establish the circumstances leading to his death,” he said.