Court of Appeal judge Otieno Odek’s body which was set for airlifting to Nairobi was returned to Kisumu’s Aga Khan Hospital mortuary.
This was after family members opposed plans to fly the body to Lee Funeral Home on Monday as they had not been consulted. The postmortem is yet to be carried out.
The body, ready for airlifting, was returned to the mortuary from the Kisumu International Airport after the intervention of family members. Judiciary officials wanted the body airlifted.
Family members said they were not aware of plans to take the body to Nairobi. The judge's elder brother Yonah Odek said the body was brought back to the hospital after consultation between the family and Judiciary officials.
“We realised when his colleagues, families and relatives wanted to view the body. After consulting, it was decided that the body be brought back to Aga Khan Hospital mortuary,” Yonah said.
He, however, did not rule out plans to take the body to Nairobi, saying the decision would be made after family meetings in Kisumu and Nairobi.
“The Judiciary was not aware that family members were around. As a family, we had to sit down and discuss,” Yonah said at the hospital in Kisumu yesterday.
“We will communicate any plans including postmortem exercise and burial later,” he added. Justice Odek’s wife Anne Achieng was present at the hospital.
The burial, Yonah said, will be at his home in Asembo, Siaya county. At the Court of Appeal in Kisumu, cases have been halted until January 2020 in honour of Justice Odek.
Justice Asikhe Makhandia said yesterday that they will not continue sitting. "In honour and respect to our departed colleague, we will adjourn all our sittings until January next year," Justice Asikhe said.
Some of the adjourned cases that were set for hearing include one in which retired President Daniel Moi appealed against a ruling on a 53-acre land in Eldoret.
The ruling delivered on May 8 in favour of former MP Noah Chelugui at the High Court in Eldoret by the Environment and Land Court Justice Antony Ombwayo directed Moi to pay Sh1 billion compensation.
Justice Odek was found dead on Monday in his house in Kisumu. Odek, 53, stayed alone at the Groovehut Apartment, a stone's throw from the Kisumu Central police station.
Odek was found on his bed. His body was covered with a blanket halfway with his hand supporting his head as he lay on his back.
Blood was oozing from his private parts and from his left ear and a hand was bruised, a police source said. Three sex-enhancing tablets, in a packet of six, had been taken but it was not known by whom or when, a police report seen by the Star said.
He came in on Thursday and was dropped by the driver. The house was locked from inside with the judge's three phones inside. The TV was still on.
Nyanza regional police commander Vincent Makokha confirmed Justice Odek was found dead on Monday morning.
Makokha said investigations are ongoing to establish the cause of death. A team of investigators and a pathologist visited the scene before the body was taken to the hospital’s mortuary awaiting postmortem.
Chief Justice David Maraga said he was deeply saddened by the sudden demise of Odek.
"He was not only a distinguished judge but also a prolific legal scholar who was widely published and celebrated across the continent and beyond," Maraga said in his condolence message.
"On behalf of the Judiciary, the Judicial Service Commission and on my own behalf, I wish to express our heartfelt condolences to the family, friends and the entire legal fraternity for this shocking loss."
Odek was born on October 18, 1963, in Eldoret Uasin Gishu county.
He served as director of the Judiciary Training Institute from 2016 to 2018, having become a judge of the Court of Appeal in 2012.
