Kitui family stuck with open grave, court blocked burial

A family in Kitu county's Mbangwani village has been left with a gaping grave in their homestead — and one in their hearts — after they were barred from burying a relative. 

The land is disputed. All they had to do was sign a document, as they had done in the past, stating the land was disputed — then the burial could have gone ahead.

But they stood their ground, the mourners ate and left, the body remained at the morgue.

And the case remains in court.

The family, relatives and neighbours of Mzee Kimwele Kyandu were set to bury his widow Lucia Syumithuro on Saturday but had to abandon the ceremony after a court order stopped them over the land dispute.

Mumoni OCS Willison Khakali served a court order obtained by a neighbour of Kimwele’s family — Mulonzya Mathuku. He arrived at the homestead and ordered the mourners to disperse. 

Mathuku is disputing ownership of the land where Syumuthuro was to be buried.

The morgue also had been ordered by Kyuso resident magistrate John Aringo not release the body.

Family member Charles Mwanz said that at 9am the OCS had blocked them from collecting the body from the Kyuso Level 4 Hospital morgue.

"We arrived at the morgue ready to collect the body to find the OCS standing there with a court order," Mwanza said on phone. 

He said after they failed to pick the body, the OCS accompanied then to the home and ordered the mourners to disperse. 

The mourners ate first and then left.

The fresh grave remains open; it's not clear when the order will be lifted.

The land is a subject of an active court case,” Mathuku told the Staron the phone and he had no option but to stop the burial.

He said he had been willing to allow the family to bury their relative on the condition they sign a document saying the land was in dispute.

“The family proved difficult and decided to proceed with the burial without our signing the agreement as I had requested," the neighbour said.

Mathuko said that when the Mzee Kimwele died a few years ago when they were still in dispute over the land, he signed an agreement with the family, and Kimwele was buried. 

“The problem is that this time around, the family was against inking a similar agreement saying there was a dispute forcing me to seek the help of the courts." 

Edited by R.Wamochie