Family exhumes body of a man buried 15 years ago to avert ‘calamity’

KILIFI, KENYA: The body of Ndoro Menza Sadi who died in 1999 aged 100 years in Tinya Nguo village in Vitengeni of Kilifi county  has been exhumed over cultural ritual.

Ndoro's family claim they did this to avert a curse for, allegedly, performing a faulty burial when he died 15 years ago. The family claims that the deceased has been threatening them through dreams or nightmares demanding to be accorded the right burial, in a coffin.

In the first burial, Ndoro was not buried in a coffin in accordance with the local tribal customs and rites. To make amends, the remains were exhumed on Friday and reburied two days later as shocked villagers watched.

In the alleged nightmares, the late Ndoro reportedly threatened his living family with dire consequences if they do not bury him decently.

"My late father has been appearing in dreams to his close family members including myself complaining that he was not accorded a decent burial and that his body must be exhumed and reburied in a good way failure to which disasters could happen to us,” said Taabu Menza, the late Ndoro's first born who led the ritual.

He told The Standard that the dreams began in 2013 after the burial of his mother in a coffin.

Menza says his late mother was buried in coffin with all the Giriama traditions and cultural rites observed.

 Reports show that the late Ndoro was not accorded a coffin and other rites because he died of a mysterious disease.

And Menza further reveals that apart from being put in the cold earth without a coffin, his father's body was not buried in new clothes and his favorite traditional Giriama song Kifudu not played.

"After we received the concerns of my late father, I took the responsibility of calling my uncles and aunts to discuss the issue before we agreed as team to remove the body from the grave and rebury it to address his grave concerns," said Menza.

Ndoro's younger and surviving brother Sadi Gwindi confirmed That a meeting was held and the resolution reached unanimously.

Related Topics

Giriama Kilifi