Actor Charles Bukeko aka Papa Shirandula was laid to rest in Samia, Busia County on Monday morning in a funeral attended by few people, mostly family members. Bukeko passed away on Saturday morning at the Karen Hospital in Nairobi, while still in the vehicle, after having breathing problems. A close family member alleged the actor died of Covid-19.
His body arrived in Samia at around 3:00am on Monday and was buried around 8:50am. Speaking at the function, his wife Beatrice Andega recounted the events leading to his death. She said Papa had been away on assignments for around three weeks and when he returned home on Sunday evening, he complained that he was feeling very cold. His wife advised him to get tested on Monday, for Malaria, Pneumonia and Covid-19.
He got tested and had to wait till Wednesday of the results. They only received the Covid-19 results. On Friday, his condition had become worse and his breathing had changed. On Saturday morning, his wife decided to rush him to the Karen hospital, but the admission process was long, “I told them please, he needs support and it’s an emergency,” she said. Papa died in the car as they waited.
She faulted the hospital management for negligence and the doctors for focusing only on Covid-19 and not other cold related ailments like Malaria and Pneumonia, “I felt it was negligence on the part of the doctors.” The late Bukeko’s father Cosmas Bukeko Wafula said he wants the full results from the hospital on his son’s demise.
He thanked all those involved in the funeral preparation, adding that they, as a family, had little time to prepare following Papa’s demise. On her part, Papa’s mother Valerie Wafula said when she first got wind of his death, she tried to reach Beatrice, “She couldn’t talk and she was crying. She said she was waiting for the results from the nurse and cut the call. Apart from his famous Papa Shirandula heroics, Bukeko was a tower in comedy acting in Kenya, and even featured in Coca Cola and GoTV ads.
