Nyeri woman’s burial stalls as husband, sister fight over land

It has been a day of drama in Kagochi village in Mathira West, Nyeri County after the burial of a woman was stopped at the eleventh hour after the grave she was to be buried in was refilled with soil following a protracted dispute over a piece of land.

The row pits Ms Margaret Wamaitha and her brother, Mr Stephen Weru, who had been embroiled in an inheritance dispute.

Ms Wamaitha claims ownership of the piece of land where the grave had been dug Wednesday night.

Mr Weru wanted to bury his wife on the land.

MOURNER STRANDED

When the Nation visited the village Thursday, scores of mourners were stranded, hurdled in groups as shocked relatives and residents discussed the turn of events in low tones.

Music was playing through the public address system that had been mounted for use during the funeral ceremony.

The other group, including the widower, was holed up in a meeting at the offices of the deputy county commissioner in Karatina town trying to resolve the matter.

SHOCKED

"I have never seen anything like this. We have been meeting here for about a week to console the family and make the funeral arrangements but the issue of the burial site never came up. Why wait until the very last minute?” Mercy, a resident, said.

At one point tensions ran high as a group of noisy and screaming mourners threatened to storm the grave site and scoop out the soil but were met by a group of hostile youths armed with sticks who repulsed them as they dared them to get near the refilled grave.

And speaking to the Nation, Ms Wamaitha, who was waving a will she said was signed by her mother indicating that she was entitled to the disputed piece of land, said her brother was using some government officials to disposes of her of inheritance.

NO BURIAL

"They will bury her here over my dead body. This is my rightful inheritance from my mother. My brother has his share. Why does he want to disinherit me? I was shocked when a group of youths came to my piece of land early Wednesday morning and started digging the grave. They told me it was meant for the burial of my brother’s wife yet he has his own piece of land,” she said.

On Wednesday night, a group of youths are said to have descended on the freshly dug grave where Flora Wairimu was to be interred, sending the organisers of the funeral ceremony into a spin.

The standoff persisted into the afternoon on Thursday and it was not clear when and where the woman would be buried.