By BOB WASWANI
June 23, 2026| Kakamega Senator and bullfighting patron Dr. Boni Khalwale has drawn a fierce line in the sand—declaring that the late Josephat Bitute Milimu alias CID, owner of the champion bull Shakahola, will not receive the revered Shilembe burial rite.
The pronouncement, delivered just two days after CID (pictured along his bull) was killed by a mob in a botched robbery attempt, has ignited a firestorm within the bullfighting fraternity and beyond.
It pits the Senator’s cultural authority against a community’s grief, and a man’s legendary status in the arena against his alleged criminality.For Khalwale, whose word is law in the region’s bullfighting circles, the decision is rooted in tradition.
Shilembe—the ritual where a fighter bull is brought to the fresh grave to “moan” alongside mourners and chase away death’s bad luck—is reserved for heroes who die with honour intact.
“One of our top bullfighters, CID, was the owner of the reigning champion fighter bull Shakahola, who has died under circumstances currently under police investigations,” Khalwale said, addressing the bullfighting community. “I appeal to all our bullfighters to strictly observe our age-old standards of this kind of death. NO SHILEMBE. Fare thee well, mwana weru.”
The conflict is stark: CID, in his early 40s, had risen to fame through Shakahola, a bull valued between Ksh 250,000 and Ksh 400,000. He was a staple at every major bullfighting event, his name synonymous with the sport’s raw glory. By that measure, he qualified for Shilembe.But police reports tell a different story.
According to an alert seen by Mulembe Times News, CID was killed by an angry mob on the night of the incident in Mukhonje sub-location. A local administrator from Rosterman raised the alarm, and Kakamega Central OCS dispatched officers to recover the body for autopsy at Kakamega Referral Hospital morgue.
“Today the chief of Shirere sub-location received a call from a member of the public informing that they had suspected stock theft suspects who were trying to steal an animal from Mukhonje sub-location,” reads the report.
“When members of the public tried to ambush them, they took off heading to Rosterman. The two escaped, leaving behind one—the notorious suspect namely Josephat Vitute Milimu alias CID, the owner of Shakahola—who was seriously worked on.”His body was found at Mupenji Muisiukhu.
He had been spotted in a stranger’s cow shade in the dead of night.And that, perhaps, is the crux of Khalwale’s refusal. Not the death itself, but the shadow it casts.
The Senator’s declaration has split the community. Some, like Hillary Muhembele, argue passionately: “As for me, Shilembe is a must because he owns a bull and he has been attending other vilembe. Tusinyime vasoni furaha.” (Don’t deny us the joy and honour.)
Valentine Bunabe echoes the sentiment: “Kwani wanajeshi huuwawa kwa vita hawachezewangi shilembe? Huyo amededi on duty—Shilembe lazima!” (Are soldiers who die in war not given Shilembe? This man died on duty—Shilembe is a must!)Others tread carefully.
Malim Silver pleaded for unity: “You have a point, patron, but now we are not concerned about how he died. Ours is to farewell him like others, as our own family member—the bullfighting family.”
And Mary Assumpta raised the question that hangs over everything: “Somebody enlighten me why Shilembe may not be preferred. I am aware his death may not have been a natural one. Could this be the reason? Is Shilembe only applicable to natural death? This discussion will open up an opportunity to learn more about our culture.”
Khalwale, however, is no stranger to such controversies—or to wielding his authority. In 2018, he buried his medical peer Dr. Jacob Maleche with full Shilembe honours in Bushiangala, Ikolomani, leaving professors and doctors of medicine astonished that one of their own could receive such a traditional send-off.
“This is how heroes are sent off in Luhyaland,” he declared then. He had done the same for former MP Charles Lugano and Senior Chief Munanga Shilutsa.So why not CID?The Senator’s silence on the specific reason speaks volumes. Is it the police label—notorious suspect—that has eaten into the man’s perceived repute? Is it the alleged stock theft, the mob justice, the circumstances that have defined his final moments?
Khalwale has visited CID’s home to console the family, offering prayers for healing from the tragic death that first broke on social media.
But he has not relented on the ritual.The family, meanwhile, has appealed for assistance to foot the funeral arrangements. The autopsy report that may reveal the definitive cause of death is yet to be tabled.
And somewhere in Shinyalu, Shakahola the champion bull stands in its pen, unaware that its master will never return—and that whether it will be allowed to mourn over his grave now rests on a single man’s judgment.
In Kakamega, the bulls may lock horns in the arena. But the real battle—between tradition and reputation, between a patron’s decree and a community’s heart—has only just begun.
And at the centre of it all stands Dr. Boni Khalwale, alone with his decision, his authority unchallenged but his motives debated from every cow shade to every homestead of CID’s sympathizers.