Court of appeal suspendeds the burial of an old man.8
The court of appeal has temporarily stopped the burial of a 90year old man after the second wife appealed the decision to have him buried by the first wife.
Judges Katembu Kairu, Ngenye Macharia and Lydia Achode suspended the burial of the late octogenarian Silas Igweta after his second widow Sarah Kathambi was by High Court decision to have him buried by his first widow.
“The interment of the deceased’s remains is hereby stayed pending the hearing and determination of the main appeal,” the judges ruled.
The three-judge bench further ruled that the grounds raised in Kathambi’s memorandum of appeal were not idle and deserved to be heard.
Through lawyer Danstan Omari, Kathambi argued that if the orders sought were not granted, it would be rendered nugatory and would require an exhumation order, which would embarrass the family of the deceased.
“The applicant would be perceived as the people who caused the exhumation of an old man loved and revered by the Ameru people,” Omari stated.
Kathambi and her children depose that they won the case in the trial court on account of the deceased’s close familial bond with them.
They added that the deceased abandoned the home of the first wife; where he is now set to be buried ; over 40 years ago.
The first wife, Grace Rigiri, opposed the appeal on grounds that she was married to the deceased and have never divorced.
Rigiri further told the court that the body of the deceased had already been moved from Umash Funeral home in Nairobi in preparation for the final burial rites.
However, the court dismissed that argument stating that “his remains are yet to be interred, and therefore, this application has not been overtaken by events.”
