Muslim Community in Embu Protest Dumping of Garbage in Cemetery

Embu, Thursday, April 13, 2023

K.N.A By Samuel Waititu

Muslim Community in Embu have protested the dumping of garbage in their cemetery located in Kagunga Village, Manyatta Constituency.

They said the graveyard is chocked with garbage that keep accumulating by the day, and according to them, it shows disrespect for the departed kin.

They accused the former regime of sanctioning the illegal dumping that started close to 10 years ago.

Instead of serving as memorial site for their departed loved ones, Shaban Juma noted, the space allocated to Muslims for cemetery over four decades ago by the defunct Municipal Council, has turned out to be a source of pain, as some of the graves cannot be traced since they have either been covered by heaps of garbage or run-over by trucks ferrying garbage.

"The pain for families whose relatives lie in the cemetery is unbearable as they cannot trace their graves," said Juma.

Another faithful, Shaban Hussein, said as a result, they are no longer able to regularly pay tribute to the departed souls of their loved ones as is their custom.

He also said due to the invasion, the graveyard had run out of space for further burials and they have been forced to stuck bodies on top of each other in the small remaining open space.

“We are now forced to bury bodies on top of each other every time reducing the depth of the grave,” said Hussein.

While at it, Ibrahim Idi, called on Governor Cecily Mbarire to order stoppage of further dumping and secure the graveyard by fencing.

“We have severally tried to fence off the area to bar garbage trucks from accessing the cemetery but to no avail,” said Idi, while alleging they were being victimized for being a minority group.

 Kna/sw.

Courtesy K.N.A