The Mbita Law Courts have directed the burial dispute over the slain 12-year-old Kennedy Onyango, who was gunned down during anti-finance bill protests in Rongai, be taken to mediation.
The mediation proceedings are set to begin today (Thursday, July 18) in Homa-Bay Town.
In passing the directive yesterday, Magistrate Nicodemous Moseti urged both parties, who were present in court, to attempt mediation as an alternative dispute resolution.
He noted that if a resolution is not reached, the court will proceed with a full hearing of the case.
Additionally, the court ordered that Kennedy Onyango’s body, currently at Sindo Morgue, be transferred to Rongo Rosehood Funeral Home.
This decision followed concerns raised by the respondent’s lawyer, Humphrey Obach, about hostility when attempting to view the body.
Denish Okinyi and Jacinta Onyango, the separated parents of the deceased disagreed on where their son should be laid to rest.
Drama ensued on July 5, 2024 when the mother was stopped from burying the son by his estranged husband, who had at the time moved to court for an injunction against the move.
While the mother wants to bury the child in Kamasengre in Rusinga Island where she is now married, the father wants to lay his son to rest in Kausuku Village, Kaksingri West in Suba Sub-County.