By John Kamau
After ten long months in the morgue and one of the most bitter family feuds to reach the Kenyan courts, the late Mburu Kinani was finally laid to rest in Gilgil on September 17, 2025.
But even in death, controversy lingers.
Barely a day after the High Court sanctioned burial, a fresh storm erupted as claims surfaced that the patriarch had been interred “at night” and without dignity.
His Gilgil family has come out strongly to dismiss the allegations, calling them “fallacious and malicious” attempts to tarnish a process that had already been settled by the courts.
Addressing journalists, the family through their lawyer, Prof. Tom Ojienda, and the Deputy Governor said they carried out the burial strictly in line with the High Court’s orders.
“The decision was made on the basis that courts are led by the wishes and choices of the deceased, who had requested to be buried next to his wife in Gilgil, where he had a functional home,” Prof. Ojienda stated.
“The High Court was clear on where and how our father was to be laid to rest. We respected the decree and ensured the burial was conducted with dignity, in accordance with his Christian faith and Agikuyu heritage,” added Kirika.
Kinani’s death on November 20, 2024 triggered a fierce dispute between two sets of his children, those from his first wife, Phelis Wanjiru, and those from his second wife, Magdalene Waithera.
The respondents argued that, under Kikuyu custom, their father should be buried at his ancestral home in Gatanga, Murang’a County, where his parents and first wife were interred.
The appellants, however, insisted that Kinani had lived in Gilgil for over 40 years, built a permanent home there, and expressed his desire to rest beside Magdalene, whom he had already buried on the family farm.
On June 12, 2025, Principal Magistrate G.M. Gitonga sided with the Gatanga family, ordering that the patriarch be buried in Murang’a. But that ruling was overturned on appeal three months later.
In her judgment on September 16, Lady Justice Helene R. Namisi declared that “The final resting place of the late Mburu Kinani shall be his farm in Gilgil, Nakuru County, next to the grave of his late wife, Magdalene Waithera Mburu.”
She further directed that the funeral arrangements “respect the deceased’s Christian faith and his Agikuyu heritage, with the specific arrangements to be led by the appellants, who shall accommodate the participation of respondents.”
Justice Namisi acknowledged the painful nature of such cases noting that “disputes, which pit family against family, are among the most difficult that the Court is called upon to adjudicate, as they invariably leave one faction grieving not only their loss but also the outcome of the litigation. In these emotive contests, the law must strive to be a therapeutic agent, providing a just resolution grounded in established principles.”
Despite the clear ruling, members of the Gatanga side have accused their step-siblings of conducting the burial in secrecy and without proper rites. The Gilgil family rejected these claims outright.
“Our father’s body had stayed in the morgue for more than ten months. He deserved to finally rest. To allege that we buried him without dignity is to insult his memory,” Kirika said.
She warned that the family would not hesitate to pursue defamation suits against those “maliciously maligning” her, her family, church and the place she works.
The Gilgil family admitted that their step-siblings retain the legal right to pursue exhumation, if granted by a court but urged them to respect Kinani’s final resting place.
“Even if they choose to pursue exhumation, let them do so through the courts, not through propaganda. Our father has now been laid to rest as ordered by the High Court and according to his wishes,” Kirika concluded.
