Burial dispute: Siblings want mother’s body moved to Nairobi for church service before burial in Nyamira
By Zipporah Ngwatu, October 7, 2025Three of five children of the late Milka Moraa Ongubo are demanding to have their late mother’s body be brought to Nairobi for a church service before she is laid to rest at her home in Nyamira County.
The three, Julia Kemunto Ongubo, Joyce Kerubo Ongubo and Jackson Momanyi Ongubo, moved to court seeking a temporal order barring their two siblings, Justus Morara Ongubo and Judy Kemuma Ongubo, from burying their mother, who passed away in Nakuru.
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Following the application, Milimani Senior Resident Magistrate Festus Terer issued an order on September 29, 2025, restraining the two from removing the remains of their late mother from Umash Funeral Home, Nakuru, for burial until the application filed in court is heard.
Kemunto, Kerubo and Momanyi, through their lawyer Danstan Omari, argue that their late mother was a member at the Karen Citam Church and she must be given her last respects in the same church.
Appearing before Terer on Tuesday, October 7, 2025, Omari further told the court that it is not a new thing for a body to be transported, giving an example where one had been transported from Kisii to Nairobi and back for a burial ceremony.
He further stated that the three are ready and willing to cater for all the expenses on transportation and any other expense for their mother’s body to be brought over to Nairobi for the church service.
“The church is the deceased church. Karen Citam Nairobi, is where she grew up, and that is where she will be given her last respects. Lastly, my clients are ready and willing to meet all the costs in the form of transportation and any expense if it is the fear of expense,” Omari told the court.
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However, the two siblings, through their lawyer, told the court that they do not see why the body of their mother should be brought to Nairobi for the prayers, stating that it was too much for their mother.
According to court papers, the three claim that their brother Justus Morara, without consultation or disclosure, clandestinely removed the deceased from her matrimonial home in Langata, Nairobi, and kept her whereabouts secret until her passing away on September 21, 2025, in Nakuru.
They further state that Morara and Kemuma have since unilaterally commenced burial preparations, published an obituary, and fixed burial arrangements without involving them as their siblings or close family members.
Notably, they reveal that they have been the primary carers of the deceased for over a decade and have a constitutional and moral right to participate in the burial of their mother.
Milka is expected to be taken to her home in Nyamira for an overnight stay on October 16, 2025, and be buried on October 17, 2025.