Lawyer asked to step down from helm of burial team

The mother of marathon champion Samuel Wanjiru wants a lawyer to step down as chairman of the committee organising her son’s burial.

Ms Hannah Wanjiru says she has asked Mr Wahome Ndegwa to disqualify himself from chairing the committee on grounds that he is partisan as he represents the interests of her son’s wife, Ms Terezah Njeri.

Mr Wahome cannot be fair, she said, because he had represented her son and his wife in several legal matters pertaining to acquisition of some of their properties.

Await postmortem

The meeting was attended by her five brothers and three coaches from Athletics Kenya (AK).

The group had visited Ms Wanjiru last Saturday, asking her to withdraw the civil suit before the High Court in which she successfully obtained orders barring the burial of her son until investigations into his death are completed.

They also wanted her to give a tentative date for the burial as it emerged that the athlete had wanted to be buried on a Wednesday, saying it was his favourite day because he won several marathons on Wednesdays.

The mother reportedly told her brothers and the emissaries from Athletics Kenya to await the outcome of the postmortem examination on Wednesday and the mention of the civil case on Thursday before she can make up her mind on the matter.