The name Allan Makana featured prominently in the blogs last week as the country prepared to lay late President Mwai Kibaki to rest.
Makana, a fairly young man from Bungoma County, shot into the limelight after causing a scene as he sought to view Kibaki’s body that was lying in state at Parliament buildings last Tuesday.
Security, drawn from the National Police Service and the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF), had a rough time containing the shirtless man, who was wailing uncontrollably, nearly interrupting the smooth flow of Kenyans who flocked Parliament to pay their last respects to the former Head of State.
He told journalists and members of the public present that he is Kibaki’s distant grandson.
On Friday, the 26-year-old man grabbed headlines again after almost disrupting the State Funeral service of Kibaki at the Nyayo Stadium.
Makana, in breach of the tight security at the stadium, rushed to the podium and attempted to disrupt the event moments after President Uhuru Kenyatta eulogized Kibaki.
Also Read: Bungoma Man Causes A Scene At Parliament After Claiming to Be Kibaki’s Grandson [Video]
In the televised event, Makana was seen interrupting Archbishop Anthony Muheria who had taken over after President Kenyatta, saying he wanted two minutes to make ‘brief’ remarks.
The man of the cloth, however, handled the unforeseen situation expertly, de-escalating the situation by embracing Makana into his arms and moving him away from the microphone before allowing security officers to take him away.
Amid reports that the young man is still in police custody, his family is now appealing to the government to free their kin unconditionally.
In a recent media interview, the family said it was equally shocked by their son’s acts. They denied having any relationship with the Kibaki family.
Also Read: Man Attempts to Disrupt Priest during Kibaki Funeral
They suggested that he might have acted the way he did because of the love he had for Kibaki, who is widely celebrated for the country’s Free Primary Education programme introduced in 2002 when he took over from President Daniel Arap Moi of the KANU regime.
Charles Ndumba, Makana’s uncle, said the boy, born and bred in Kabusosi village in Kanduyi Constituency, has always been well mannered.
He asked the government to pardon him since the family has no money to bail him out.
“His mourning doesn’t mean a lot it’s evident that Allan wailed because of the emotions but nothing else. I take this humble chance to ask the government to forgive our son and release him from the cell,” he said.
Makana’s mother, Concephetar Makana, said the son, who completed his secondary school education in 2016, has not been home since 2018.
She said since Makana was arrested she has not been able to reach him on phone.
“Personally I don’t have a TV in my house, I got the electricity power recently but locals have been telling me about the story of my son. I even don’t know what happened,” she said.
Concephetar revealed the lastborn in the family of eight was a talented drama club member right from primary school. He scored a C+ in his Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examination.
“My son left home in 2016 after completing his secondary education in 2015 at Sikusi boys high school, he told me that he is going to look for a job,” she said.
According to the mother, before Makana left home he was a member of the Pome Africa productions, an organization that presents high school set books.
Apparently, the family has been trying to get their son to visit them in the village in vain. The mother said whenever the family contacts Makana he says he will come home soon.
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