Queen Jane's wedding 'was drama'

By Wairimu KamandeThe maternal family of the late Benga musician, Jane Nyambura, says the alleged wedding between her and James Kariuki, which was shown to a court in a video, was a stage-play.Nyambura, popularly known as Queen Jane and whose burial is at the centre of a major row, allegedly wrote the play.Queen Jane’s younger sister, Ejidiah Wanja, dismissed a video clip played in court to prove her sister and Mr Kariuki had formalised their wedding, saying the clips were only part of a drama, and not a real wedding as purported by Kariuki.Queen Jane died in June while undergoing treatment at a Nairobi hospitalShe played down the video evidence, which Kariuki is relying on to prove to court the deceased was his wife, urging the court to consider the same as part of the larger play, where she was also an actor.In a hearing before Senior Resident Magistrate Barbara Owino, Ms Wanja said the show at Ruiru Baptist Church was to involve a cast of 15 people who were characters in the play. She said the people who attended the ‘ceremony’, including musicians and media personalities, had gatecrashed to watch the play."They followed us from Githurai on seeing Jane in the motorcade when we were heading to shoot the play," said Wanja on cross-examination by Kariuki’s lawyer, Ngure Mbugua.She told the court that each of the 15 cast members was paid Sh5,000 for their services. Wanja could, however, not produce the script used to direct the play after being challenged to do so by the lawyer, saying the deceased had kept it. She said her late sister had not yet completed the play by the time of her death.Wanja further said it was no surprise that their mother featured in the play despite not having been included in any other song and performance rendered by either Jane or Wanja, who is also a musician.She further told the court that she knew Pastor JJ Gitahi, the man alleged to have presided over the wedding, as a musician and not as a member of the clergy qualified to conduct a marriage ceremony.The alleged marriage was conducted in June 2009.Wanja also denied having a strained relationship with the deceased over the latter’s music rights.

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