Last wishes by loved ones are to be adhered to by surviving relatives, especially when they are not unreasonable. A Kenya family is finding out the hard way that the wishes of Kenga Kalama, 63, were no fluke. Kenya man gets reburial after tormenting relatives with nightmares
Kenya man died on December 2 after complaining of a headache in 2019 and was buried, but before breathing his last, the mason informed his folks he didn’t want to be buried in a coffin. He preferred being buried directly in the earth as was done to his parents and grandparents.
But the family in Ganze opted to break in pieces the coffin he had been laid in for the funeral and add to his grave when Kalama’s instruction was for the coffin to be burnt.
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The consequence of disobeying was Kalama appearing in the dreams of his son, sister, and grandchildren expressing anger at being buried in a coffin, which was causing him pain and barring his movement to attend to chores.
The relatives say their deceased kin caused them to have nightmares where he threatened them with death.
Lenox Kalama, his remaining brother, said Kenga collapsed and died four hours after complaining of a headache that was not very severe.
“We buried him on December 7 but since then we have known no peace. He was categorical that we should not bury him in a coffin, that his body should be removed from the coffin and the coffin burned.
“We buried him in the traditional way but before his body was put in the grave, we placed a timber where the body would lie. We then placed rafters above after placing the body and a traditional mat to make sure sand does not reach the body. This was the beginning of our troubles,” he said.
Those troubles include young grandchildren saying Kalama had appeared to them in a dream after which they fall ill with one claiming she felt like committing suicide by hanging herself.
His son, Kenas Kenga also a mason had to jump from a wall he was erecting as it started disintegrating, escaping death. Distant relatives and neighbours also said Kalama had appeared in their dreams.
Kalama’s sister Eunice Taabu wasn’t spared the nightmares either.
“Many people have come to us to report that Kenga is disturbing them, making demands that can be lethal to the family if his wishes will not be respected. Every time he appeared in my dreams he was complaining that the timber we placed in the grave was hurting him and that he wants to move for some errands but is unable to,” she said.
She said for the last two months the family had witnessed “unusual things” that prompted them to finally exhume and rebury him in accordance with his wishes.
Kenya man was reburied on February 23 this year in the soil directly after rituals were performed and apology rendered. His coffin was burned as he had requested.
Kenya man also requested to be buried with a packet of Sportsman cigarettes, a metal staff that he used as well as his favorite tropical sweets he took after smoking all of which were added during the reburial.
