Family ordered to exhume man’s remains and bury them afresh

By MURIMI MWANGI

Nyeri, Kenya: The High Court has ordered the exhumation of a man buried last month.

The court ruled that Muchemi Mutune’s burial was irregular and ordered that his body be exhumed within the next 30 days.

The deceased’s sister-in-law Joyce Wanjira, on whose land Mutune was buried, was ordered to meet the cost of the exhumation and subsequent burial.

Mutune had sued Wanjira and another defendant over the ownership of a contentious piece of land located in Tetu, Nyeri County, and the dispute dates back to 2011.

After Mutune’s death late this year, a man claiming the deceased had told him how he wished to be buried moved to court seeking permission to inter his remains.

On October 29, Justice Anthony Ombwayo of the Nyeri Environment and Land Court directed that the deceased be buried on a specific section of the land.

Interestingly, three days later, the family buried the deceased on a parcel of land belonging to his sister-in-law. The man, Joseph Ndiritu Ndumia,  moved back to court seeking enforcement of the court order, and Justice James Wakiaga granted the order.