Family stays overnight with body of dead kin after land dispute

A family in Nkumbo village, Imenti Central has recounted their distress after they were forced to stay with the body of their loved one overnight after a burial event was stopped.

The burial of Ms Jacinta Karura was stopped by a court, soon after her body arrived at home from the mortuary, over a disputed parcel.

Mourners had turned up for the burial, when a court official turned up with an order stopping the event Wednesday afternoon.

DISPUTED LAND

Young men had arrived at the home early that morning and dug the grave in the disputed two-and-a-half-acre land as the women prepared food for the mourners.

Four priests from the nearby Runywene Methodist Church, together with other mourners, left the venue after it was clear that the burial would not take place.

Speaking to the Nation, Mr Samuel Munene, the husband of the dead woman, said there was a row over the ownership of the land where he had planned to bury his wife.

But he expressed disappointment at the court's move to issue a court order on the day of the burial.

“This a big blow to my family and I because we have incurred a lot of expenses to prepare for this burial. Why did they wait until the last minute?” Mr Munene asked.

Ms Rose Kendi, the woman's daughter, questioned the authenticity of the court order.

She called for the investigation claiming that the order was dated August 20, 2019 - five days before Ms Karura died.

She claimed that the order was based on an application dated December 31, 2019.

“We have no way of determining if it is genuine,” she said.

Mr Elijah Guantai Mikwa moved to court seeking orders that Mr Munene and his family be barred from trespassing into the land saying it was his.

The woman was laid to rest in another land.