Rushed early morning burial angers family, residents

There was drama in Magumu in Kinangop Nyandarua County after a family decided to bury a kin three days before the set burial date.

The hurried burial of 34-year-old Walter Makumi triggered protest from a section of family members and villagers who had settled for next Saturday as the burial day.

According to witnesses, the burial took place in the wee hours of Wednesday without the knowledge of his wife Jane Wanjiru

Makumi who worked as technician at Kihara Hospital in Kiambu died last week due to kidney complications and was set to be buried on November 16.

However, his brothers who had a burial permit managed to collect the body without the knowledge of the wife and buried it in their father’s farm in a hushed ceremony.

Following the incident, the emotional Wanjiru and her relatives trooped to the home, but they were kept at bay by their in-laws who termed them as 'strangers.'

According to Wanjiru, trouble started last week when the relatives on two occasions decided to shift the bodies from mortuaries without consulting her.

Tears rolling down her cheeks, she said that the move was meant to lock her from some property that her husband owned and his relatives wanted to take over.

“We have been married for eight years and have two boys, but I have been locked out of the burial arrangements as they are after my husband properties,” she said.

Magumu Location Chief Ng’ang’a Njuguna said there was little they could do to stop the burial as the family had a legal burial permit.