Nairobi, April 23 -- When the family of Joab Otieno learnt of his death at Kombewa Sub-County Hospital in Kisumu last week, their thoughts turned, as tradition demands, to home. Plans were swiftly set in motion to ferry their son's body to Homa Bay, where he would be laid to rest within his parents' compound in Ndhiwa.

Mr Otieno had died after a short illness while receiving treatment at the hospital. At the time of his passing, he lived in Kisumu town, earning his livelihood as a contractor.

But even as his relatives prepared to gather in Ndhiwa to organise his final journey, another, unseen plan was quietly unfolding. A different family in Kisumu County was making its own burial arrangements - this time for a final resting place in Se...