foreman, closely associated with the Umira Kager clan. Otieno's relationship with the clan was ambiguous as, despite his westernised lifestyle, he remained a member of his clan association. The case went through several hearings in the Kenyan High Court and Court of Appeal over five months during which Otieno's corpse remained unburied. The case was an exemplar of the debate between customary (indigenous, ethnic, traditional) law as against the statutory and the (common) law that had been introduced in Kenya during the colonial period and largely retained after independence. Under Kenyan law at that time, a deceased person’s will or the wishes of their spouse were not sufficient to determine a dispute between any opposed parties, and the case hinged on whether the relevant Kenyan law on burial was statute, Common law or Customary law, and who was the next of kin responsible for the funeral rites. It emerged that ethnic interests still prevailed in Kenyan family and inheritance law. The Court of Appeals ruled that when there was conflict between common law and customary law, the later is given precedent. They declared that the courts of Kenya are guided by African customary law provided that such laws are "not repugnant to justice and morality". The judges concluded that the advocate for Mrs Otieno had failed to demonstrate that traditional Luo burial customs were opposed to justice or morality. In the end the Nairobi All Saints Cathedral refused to hold the funeral service at the cathedral as the clan had desired. Mr Otieno was finally buried at Nyamila on 23 May 1987. See also Luo people of Kenya and Tanzania References Sources D S Cohen and E S Odhiambo, (1992). “Burying SM: The Politics of Knowledge and Sociology of Power in Africa” Portsmouth NH, Heinemann. E Cotran, (1987). “Casebook on Kenyan Customary Law” Nairobi, Nairobi University Press. A Gordon, (1995). “Gender, Ethnicity, and Class in Kenya: "Burying Otieno" Revisited" Signs, Vol. 20, No. 4. R J Gehman, (1989). African Traditional Religion in Biblical Perspective, Nairobi, East African Educational Publishers Ltd. P Stamp, (1991). “Burying Otieno: The Politics of Gender and Ethnicity in Kenya” Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society Vol.16 No.4 pp 808–845. N Wamai, (2011). “Tribute to Wambui, a maverick freedom heroine", Daily Nation, 3 September 2011, . S C Wanjala, (1989). “Conflicts of Law and Burial” in J B Ojwang J B and J N K