A step-brothers row over land in Ngorika, Nyandarua County escalated on Monday leading to a dramatic burial, all to beat a court order barring the funeral.
Samuel Munyua had been granted a court order to stop the burial of his step-brother, Elijah Kogi, on the land they had been fighting over for years.
Munyua told the court that his brother’s family were illegal settlers on the expansive land and that he is the sole trustee.
But Kogi’s family hurriedly buried him before Munyua could serve them with a court order he had obtained in a local court barring the burial until the case was heard and determined.
Amid bad roads which hampered their movement, Kogi’s family carried his casket 4km to the burial site and interred his remains.
According to the deceased’s brother, Laban Mwangi, the family was once united but their troubles erupted after their father died.
Their father had had two wives and soon after his death, the two households started squabbling over his land.
Though the court issued a stay order barring their eviction, Mwangi accused their step brother of frustrating their efforts to inherit their father’s land.
own the land to a point that the area chief declined to issue them with a burial permit.
Kogi’s wife, Hannah Njeri, said long before her husband died they had been attacked several times hence the reason they hurriedly buried him. The deceased’s uncle, Eliud Kimani, said the family can end their wrangles if they soften their stance and allow for mediation.
