The Standard Group Plc is a multi-media organization with investments in media
platforms spanning newspaper print
operations, television, radio broadcasting, digital and online services. The
Standard Group is recognized as a
leading multi-media house in Kenya with a key influence in matters of national and
international interest.
Kamba traditions clashed with Christianity at Katituni village when the body believed to be that of a pastor was exhumed and a sheep buried in its place.
The body, earlier believed to be that of Jonathan Mutisya Mwania, a pastor at Africa Brotherhood Church (ABC), was exhumed over the weekend under the watchful eye of Administration Police officers and chief Daniel Wambua at his Katituni home following a court order.
Mr Mwania died on August 10 at Kathiani Level Four Hospital after a short illness and was buried a week later at his home in a ceremony mostly attended by pastors and select church choirs.
But the body was later identified to be that of John Kamusina Ndambuki, prompting the exhumation for which the elders were present to conduct a ritual to “drive away curses and protect the family from calamities”.
Not even the pastor’s widow, Mary Nduku, a born again Christian could change the elders’ resolve to carry out what she described as satanic deeds out of conformity with her faith. Her protestations went unheeded.
And as soon as the coffin was brought to the open, the elders swung into action.
An elder, James Makau, wielding a knife grabbed the sheep and in one stroke, cut its throat, disemboweled it before depositing the twitching carcass inside the grave. A banana crop was later planted on the grave.
“We cannot expose our family to calamities knowingly. The Kamba tradition is part of our life and in such a situation, we must abide by it,” Mwania Muinde, 85, father to Pastor Mutisya said.
He claimed that failure to conduct the ritual could see family members die every year.
The widow, Ms Nduku, 59, described the ritual as satanic and threatened to leave the family.
“My husband was a pastor and we all believe in God. I’m totally against this satanic move and I might be forced to leave the family,” Nduku protested.
Trouble for the family started three days after the burial when they received news that the body they had buried was not that of their kin.
“I had just started healing only to be told that I buried the wrong body and my husband’s still lay at the mortuary. It was hard to accept,” said Nduku.
She added: “All his uncles accompanied me to the mortuary where we confirmed the body was his and we took it for burial.”
The exhumed body was later buried at Muisuni village in Mwala sub-county. That of the pastor still lies at Kathiani Level Four Hospital mortuary as his distraught family plans for yet another burial.
