Court stops family from burying daughter over land row

A court has stopped a family from burying a relative on a disputed parcel of land.

Johnson Karanja is seeking to stop the burial of his step-sister Mary Wambui on land that he says belongs to him.

Wambui died on February 27 this year but the court case has delayed her internment.

Justice Joel Ngugi noted that the issues raised by the applicant were urgent and ordered the matter to be heard in the presence of all parties today.

Karanja wants Wambui to be buried on land she owns and not on land he claims their late father left him as the administrator.

“My sister was an employee of Kenya Forest Service, but she was terminated due to her poor health. She used the benefits from her employer to buy land that is registered under the name of her elder son,” Karanja told the court.

Karanja's siblings, however, have filed a different lawsuit in court challenging his status as the administrator of the land. They instead want their sister, Rachel Wanjiku Ngugi, to be named administrator.

But Karanja told the court that he had given money to his father to buy the land for him, adding that the was afraid burying Wambui would give her family a right to the land.