15,000 mourners to attend Kibaki’s burial ceremony in Othaya

Principal Administrative Secretary (PAS) in the office of the President, Kennedy Kihara who is overseeing the arrangements of the ceremony announced on Wednesday that the government will still have extra provisions should the guest count go up.

“We are making arrangements for 15,000 mourners, however, with provision for extra mourners that will come,” said Kihara.

“We have zoned the area into where the family will sit, the clergy. Choir and guests from other countries, our own VIPs and the rest of us mourners.”

He further disclosed that the departed Head of State will be carried by road from Nairobi without giving further details into which route the entourage will take.

Kihara assured that security has been beefed up in the area and along the road from Nairobi to ensure a smooth ceremony for Kenya’s third president.

“The security inside this venue has been assured by police, they will secure the route from Nairobi all the way here,” he stated.

Preparations for the final mass at the Othaya Approved School where the funeral service will be held - and the burial place at his home - are in top gear with the military taking charge of all the work.

Staff from the Ministry of Public Works were also deployed to the site to construct and tar the roads leading to the venue in Othaya ahead of the event.

The former Head of State’s body has been lying in State at Parliament buildings since Monday for public viewing, and visitors have until today, Wednesday, April 27, to pay their last respects.

Ahead of Saturday’s burial, a State funeral service will be held on Friday at the Nyayo Stadium in Nairobi.