BY WAIRIMU KAMANDE
Musician Jane Nyambura a.k.a Queen Jane illuminated the local showbiz scene with dazzling stage shows. But three months after she died, drama appears to be following her to the grave.
A court ruling blocking a man from burying her has added a new twist to a raging dispute and is likely to delay what could have been a colourful burial for one of the few female musicians in the country.
Businessman James Kariuki who swears Queen Jane was his beloved wife has vowed to appeal against a Magistrate’s ruling last Wednesday.
Thika Senior Resident Magistrate, Barbara Owino ruled that Kariuki was not legally married to Jane and handed the body to her maternal family.
The Magistrate said the purported wedding between Kariuki and the musician was null and void since the pastor who conducted it was not registered to conduct weddings. The magistrate said Kariuki, had not paid dowry.
But three days after the ruling, Kariuki says the battle is far from over. He describes the ruling as ‘heart breaking.’
first meeting
Businessman James Kariuki. INSET: Queen Jane. PHOTO: WAIRIMU KAMANDE/STANDARD |
They first met at a club in Ruiru and it was love at first sight.
"I had not heard much about Jane and I thought it was just another woman performing at the club. I bought her beer but she declined," he says.
But Kariuki did not give up and Jane later accepted the offer after the waiter intimated to her that I had helped transport one of her guitarists from Juja.
"She told me she liked me and wished to see me again and we exchanged numbers," he says.
He adds: " I paid several visits to her family and married in June 2001. I paid Sh60,000 in dowry," he says. But this, according to the court was a mere gift.
The fact that she could not bear children also became an issue with friends and relatives piling pressure for their separation.
He says Jane fell ill in 2003 and he has been paying her medical expenses. "It was only when her condition worsened that she went to stay with one of her sisters and later died at St Mary’s Lang’ata Hospital.
"I had taken care of her throughout her illness only to be surprised, when the family took away over her body without my knowledge," he says.
But Jane’s family has disowned Kariuki, saying the purported wedding was a play written by the deceased. Kariuki, they told the court was hired to play the role of a groom and paid Sh5,000, as were other 14 cast members who included Jane’s mother.
He says Jane’s family were onlyinterested in her wealth.
One of Jane’s sisters, Ejidiah Wanja, however, denies this. Wanja says the family was not after any money or property.
"All we want is to bury her as she rightfully belongs to us," she says.Kariuki says Jane had 13 albums worth about Sh3.2 million.
"They are after her money from albums. All I want is the right to bury her as she was my legal wife," he says.
But whether Kariuki appeals or not, the drama has obviously dented the queen’s legacy.
