That death came on February 17, 2024, and is literally pulling wife and husband in different directions.
Igweta, who died at the age of 100, had separated with Grace 40 years before he breathed his last and allegedly left a will indicating he be buried at Lairangi Mumui, where he lived with his second wife Sarah Kathambi and not in Kianjai where the first wife lives.
But Grace is having none of it and has lodged a suit in court demanding to be given her husband's remains so she can bury him at her home.
Neither of the women has disputed the fact that the man was married to both of them but Sarah says Grace no longer has any rights over Igweta after his death.
She has reminded her co-wife about their marriage vow that speaks of death separating the spouse.
Sarah in her affidavits says the marriage vow between Grace and Igweta was to the effect "till death do us part" meaning they were only husband and wife until death occasioned.
"Therefore, on the date of death, the implication is that they are no longer married. They have parted ways. The first plaintiff (Grace) has been left where she is and the deceased (Igweta) has gone and wants to be buried where he wants to be buried," she says.
For Sarah, Grace cannot claim to be married to a dead man. Marriage exists where there are two living people. When one dies, the other becomes a widow or widower, she argues.
"Therefore, there is no marriage between a deceased person and a widow," she says.
Sarah has asked Milimani family court magistrate G.M Gitonga to find merit in her argument and rule that a widow has no right at all to bury the deceased.
She says only spouses have such a right, but because Grace and Igweta got married in the Christian way, that marriage ceased to exist upon Igweta's death.
"The deceased is no longer chained in the chains of marriage. He has been set free and he has written a will to deal with himself when he is dead. We, therefore, strongly believe that the desire of the deceased not to be buried in the first plaintiff's place is very pronounced on this matter," Sarah says in affidavits also signed by her daughters Purity Kinya and Miriam Makena.
Lairangi Mumui and Kianjai are about 40km apart. The two areas are within Tigania West constituency in Meru county.
According to Sarah, Igweta and Grace have lived separately for 40 years and their separation was a result of cruelty on the part of the woman.
She says it is her with whom the man had the most natural definition of a basic family unit having lived together for 4o years in a family home they built in Mumui.
"Grace has been absent in my father's life for 40 years and cannot possibly point to a significant familial bond with him," Sarah's daughter Purity says in their affidavit.
Sarah was married to Igweta through Meru customary law. The two wives at one time lived together under the same roof at a house in Nairiri.
Grace has told the court that Sarah snatched her husband away from her by coercing him to move to a different home.
But Purity, who signed the affidavits on behalf of her mother and sister Makena, says those allegations cannot be true.
She says Igweta was a true Meru man with an ego that could not be coerced. She says her father was a man of influence and interacted with the who is who in the area and had power, having been in charge of public works in Meru region.
In their submissions, Sarah and her children say Grace stands divorced because the certificate of marriage between him and the deceased is no longer valid.
They argue that divorce occurred upon Igweta's death and that the certificate of marriage does not serve the purpose of his death because it was for the living.
Igweta's body lies at the Umash Funeral Home in Nairobi. He died in his sleep at an apartment along Kirinyaga Road in downtown Nairobi.
He had been diagnosed with diabetes five years ago, a condition which worsened in November last year when he was also diagnosed with a swollen prostrate.
Sarah's family moved him to Nairobi for medical attention.
He was put at his daughter's apartment on Kirinyaga Road and a High Dependency Unit qualified nurse and houseboy hired to take care of him.
That apartment is managed by Purity.
Purity says Grace's family was always informed about Igweta's condition and that both families were together at the apartment on February 2 when the old man woke up unwell and needed more medical tests.
Sarah says that her family's taking care of the old man, including his medical bills, is proof that they are his closest family unit and ought to bury him.
Grace, however, says burying the man in Mumui would cause her and her children untold and extreme mental, physical and emotional trauma, anguish and insurmountable social embarrassment.
But Sarah wants her co-wife's case dismissed and that she be ordered to reimburse her Sh5.5 million for medical bills and another Sh971,953 for maintenance.
"It is strange that the first family claim to have had a close proximity with the deceased, yet they never catered for his needs including but not limited to medical bills which burdened the deceased’s second family alone," Sarah says.
The court will today (Tuesday) issue directions on the hearing of the matter.
