A Mombasa family has appealed for Sh1.2 million so their son can be buried in the USA rather than being cremated (see P11).
Peter Juma was a bus driver and the son of a born-again bishop and reverend who strongly feels that he should not be cremated.
This case raises several interesting points.
Firstly, America is willing to bury a coronavirus victim, they do not all have to be cremated. Perhaps Kenya should not insist on cremation as the government had with the first coronavirus death.
Secondly, is cremation so bad? It is understandable that a family wants a relative buried in the land of the family home.
But in this case, the body is far away in New York. If the body was cremated in the USA, the ashes could be brought back to Kenya and interred in the family plot in Mombasa. Wouldn't that be better than burial in the USA?
In the end, we all move from "dust to dust", whether by cremation or burial. The Juma family are entitled to prefer burial but they should not expect well-wishers to pay for it. If they insist on burial, they should pay for it themselves.
Quote of the day: "If you shut up truth, and bury it underground, it will but grow."
Émile Zola
The French novelist was born on April 2, 1840
