Court directs Moraa Ongubo’s body to be moved to Nairobi for church service
A Nairobi court has ordered the body of the late Milka Moraa Ongubo to be transferred from Nakuru to Nairobi for a memorial service at the CITAM Church Karen before her burial ceremony in Nyamira County.
Three of the five children of the late Moraa moved to court seeking to have their late mother’s body, who passed away in Nakuru, brought to Nairobi for a church service before she is laid to rest at her home in Nyamira County.
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The three — Julia Kemunto Ongubo, Joyce Kerubo Ongubo, and Jackson Momanyi Ongubo — through their lawyer Danstan Omari, argued that their late mother was a member of the Karen CITAM Church and must be given her last respects in the same church.
However, their two siblings, Justus Morara Ongubo and Judy Kemuma Ongubo, through their lawyer Ouma, told the court that they do not see why the body of their mother should be brought to Nairobi for prayers, stating that it was too much for their mother.
In a ruling delivered virtually on Wednesday, October 8, 2025, Milimani Senior Resident Magistrate Festus Terer stated that all the children have equal rights to bury their mother.
He ordered that the body of the late Moraa be brought to Nairobi for a church service before October 15, 2025.
Further, he directed that the three siblings should cater for the expenses of relocating the body from Nakuru to Nairobi.
“The body of the late Milka Moraa Ongubo is to be transferred to Umash Funeral Home, Nairobi (from Umash Funeral Home, Nakuru) by the plaintiffs (Kemunto, Kerubo, and Jackson Momanyi) and the defendants (Morara and Judy Kemuma),” Magistrate Terer ruled.
“The plaintiffs (Kemunto, Kerubo, and Jackson Momanyi) are to conduct a memorial service for the deceased at CITAM-Karen or otherwise not later than October 15, 2025. The defendants (Morara and Judy Kemuma) are to be allowed to attend and participate in the said memorial service,” Magistrate Terer ruled.
Notably, the court directed that all of Moraa’s children should be included in the final burial programme.
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 Lang’ata, Nairobi, and kept her whereabouts secret until her passing 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 siblings or close family members.
They reveal that they have been the primary caregivers 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 buried on October 17, 2025.
