Drama of KCB executive's night burial, court order

The late KCB Executive Rosemary Chemutai.[Courtesy]

Rosemary Chemutai, whose death sparked a national debate, has courted even more controversy after she was buried at night.

The KBC executive was laid to rest on Friday night at her parents' home in Kapkwen, Kipkelion, Kericho County, just hours after her husband, Kevin Kimwatu, got a court order stopping the burial.

Milimani Commercial Magistrate Agnes Mwangi had barred the deceased’s parents, relatives and KCB Bank employees from removing Chemutai’s remains from Lee Funeral Home without her husband’s involvement.

The matter is expected to return before the court for further directions tomorrow.

But the Head of Data Protection in the bank’s Risk Division was buried in the cover of darkness, with the family claiming that it was in accordance with Kipsigis customs and not intended to shut out Kimwatu or their four children.

At a memorial Mass led by Catholic clergy at Kapkwen yesterday, family members and clan elders said the decision to bury her after sunset was guided by Kipsigis customs and was made by the Kipkendek clan.

The clan also carried out a traditional cleansing ceremony involving the slaughter of a goat and the use of its fat.

“The ritual was done to cut off bad omen from revisiting the family. Even the rope used by a deceased person to die by suicide has to be cleansed through the application of goat's fat,” said Kipkendek clan chairman Samuel Keter.

Although Keter did not dwell on the circumstances of Chemutai’s death, his explanation offered an insight into why the elders considered the cleansing rites necessary.

Rosemary’s uncle, Christopher Koech, rejected suggestions that the family had deliberately conducted the burial at night to keep Kimwatu and his relatives away.

“We had no grudge or issue with our in-laws, including the fathers of our daughters' children. The place where Chemutai is resting is hers and, by extension, belongs to her children and their father,” he said.

“Even if he is around today, let him come forward. He is welcome anytime. He is part of us.”

Keter claimed Kimwatu had also been informed that his wife had been buried on land her father had allocated to her.

“Our daughter was buried in her own land. Her husband is welcome to come and raise the children here. We don't have any fight with our in-laws. We sat down and told him that much, and court battles over burial rites are unnecessary to us,” Keter said.

For Rosemary’s mother, Beatrice Koech, Chemutai, fondly known as Chemu, was a gift from God whom the family had been entrusted to raise and care for only for a short time.

“Though she was my daughter, she was a gift from God for us to share for a brief moment with our family. To God, we are just vessels. She belonged to her Maker. He allowed us to take care of her," she said.

Casket bearing the remains of the late Rosemary Chemutai Koech in Kericho.[Nikko Tanui]

Koech said the family had done its part by raising Chemutai according to their faith and had accepted that her life had returned to its Creator.

She said her faith had helped her cope with the loss and that she did not regard death as the end, expressing hope that she would see her daughter again at the resurrection.

Koech remembered her late daughter as a cheerful woman whose laughter brought joy to those around her. She said she did not believe the pressures of her demanding professional life alone could explain her daughter’s death

She said she was deeply private and rarely allowed people to know when she was struggling.

“That is why we did not get to know that she was undergoing a difficult time. She kept things in her heart,” she said.“It is still okay for Chemu to be buried here, where she can receive comfort and where her children can come when they are not comfortable and want to go to where their mother is.”

Rosemary’s father, John Koech, said the death had taken a heavy emotional and physical toll on him.

“I remember a time when I was sick. Chemu and my other daughters never left my hospital bedside. Whenever I woke up, Chemu would tell me, ‘Daddy, just recover so that we can go home.’ She was a good girl,” he said.

Her death at 40 has been felt far beyond Kapkwen, particularly in professional circles where she was recognised for her work in digital privacy, technology and governance.

Chemutai, a lawyer, and Kimwatu were married under customary law in 2007 before later solemnising their union at Austin Catholic Church in Muthangari, Nairobi.

On Friday, Kimwatu convinced the Milimani Commercial Magistrate Agnes Mwangi to stop the burial, claiming he had been ignored.

In his 24-page plaint and witness statement, Kimwatu says he has the right to bury his wife at their Matasia home in Kajiado County.

"It is trite law that a husband has the legal right and obligation to bury his deceased wife, and that this position is equally upheld and reinforced under African Customary Law," he argues.

Kimwatu describes their marriage as a happy, loving and harmonious union characterised by mutual affection, companionship and support.

Although he acknowledges that, like any marriage, they experienced challenges, he says the difficulties were never of such gravity or persistence as to diminish the love and happiness that defined their union.

He further tells the court that the couple had been separated for about four months before Chemutai expressed a desire to return to their matrimonial home.

He says he agreed to her request, but she died before she could return.

The husband accuses KCB of overstepping its role as Chemutai’s employer and interfering in what he considers private family affairs.

Chemutai died on August 21, in unclear circumstances.