Ohangla musician Bernard Obonyo, aka Abenny Jachiga, buried in the dead of night
Bernard Onyango Obonyo, the youthful ohangla musician who died on Thursday (June 10, 2020) after a short illness, was buried in the dead of night Saturday by the police.
The controversial decision was made after furious mourners, mostly his youthful followers, had on Saturday blocked his burial, angry that their music hero was being buried in a hurry without following Luo culture.
The youths removed the casket which had been lowed by the police and filled up the grave and forced members of the humble family to drive the body back to a mortuary.
But after the chaotic scenes died down the police and the family brought the body back, scooped out the soil from the filled up grave and buried the musician, popularly known as Abenny Jachiga, his stage name.
Only his younger brother Austin Omondi was allowed at the graveside as the police conducted the proceedings.
Mourners were particularly vexed they were not allowed to “pay their last respects” because no one was allowed to view the body in the casket.
But before they handed the casket to the family on Saturday, they sang all over the village with the casket in tow.
But early Saturday morning, at about 1.40am, the police got the body from the morgue and took it to the musician’s home, where they buried him under the cover of darkness.
The musicians mother, Monica Auma, was on Saturday forced to sit on the late musician’s grave in Kolwa East, Kisumu County, to stop youths from exhuming his body.
Villagers woke up to the news of the night burial and trooped the home armed with spades ready to exhume again.
But a resolute Auma would hear none of it even as she pleaded with them to leave his son alone.
“Mkitaka kutoa Ben kwa kaburi mutaniuwa, mutaniuwa,” She said as she was assured that such a thing will not be allowed to happen.
Accompanied by her daughter in law, Belinda Aluoch, the two said they will not allow such a thing to happen.
“We want to give Abenny a decent burial, we cannot accept what was done here,” some mourners were heard swearing loudly.
The mourners later started dispersing from the home.
The Ohangla love songs singer, died at St. Jairus Hospital at dawn Thursday. He was admitted on June 10 at 6pm.
Some relatives said he suffered a bout of pneumonia and cough before he died.
His Omondi said Ministry of Health experts took samples from the body. He said his brother fell ill on June 5 while in Nairobi.
The musician, 33, traveled to Nairobi on June 3 and it is still not clear how he traveled back to Kisumu last Saturday in the face of the lockdown in Nairobi.
“He told me he was going to Nairobi for some business but I did not bother to interrogate him further,” Omondi said.
Onyango is said to have traveled back to his home in Chiga, Kisumu East Sub-County in Kisumu County, on June 6 when he was first admitted at a local hospital and later transferred to St Elizabeth Hospital in Chiga the following day.
Omondi said that from the hospital, Onyango was taken home on a Monday where a private doctor was called to attend to him.He said that his brother had small spots on his skin body and complained of stomachaches.
Onyango was later rushed to St Jairus Hospital where he died after developing breathing complications at 2am. Omondi said that while at the hospital, his brother complained of having breathing complications and was coughing blood. Omondi described his brother as outgoing and forgiving.
“He was a good person, he would forgive very quickly,” he said. Omondi said Jachiga had recorded about five songs in February, this year, which they wanted to launch but was disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
One of his most popular numbers, Kasinde, ridicules unfaithful women who refer to all their lovers as “my cousin.” The musician started his music career at the age of 21 as an instrumentalist. Onyango was mentored by the likes of Lady Maureen and had a brief stint with Jakadenge before he started his own band, which for years performed at the former Gwara Gwara Club in Kondele.
The musician released his hit song ‘Kasinde’ in mid-2018 and is also known for his other songs like Usidharau mwenzio, Penzi ni kama mayai and Simba manyo wendo.
He mentored artistes and instrumentalists like Lawy Jakabonyo, Boss wuod Nyasembo, Awilo Jakatoloa and pianist Osto among others.
He is survived by a widow and five children.
On Thursday, the police had to fire teargas canisters to disperse fans who wanted to force their way into Port Florence Hospital at Otonglo to view the musician’s body.
The body was moved to the morgue from the nearby St Jairus Hospital.Chaos erupted shortly after 8am after a large group of youths tried to enter the hospital, but were stopped by police.
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