Why first family wants body of Kiambu DG's father exhumed
Courts
By
Nancy Gitonga
| Sep 23, 2025
The body of James Mburu Kinani, father of Kiambu Deputy Governor Rosemary Njeri Kirika, may be exhumed following a contentious night burial last week — a move that has reignited a protracted family feud that has been in courts for nearly a year.
Children from his first wife, Phelis Wanjiru Mburu, are threatening to return to court to seek orders for exhumation. They argue that their 90‑year‑old father’s burial was carried out irregularly and in secrecy, contrary to their wishes he be laid to rest in Gatanga, Murang’a County, beside their mother.
Instead, Deputy Governor Njeri and her siblings buried him at his farm in Gilgil, Nakuru County on the evening of September 17.
Since Mr Mburu’s death on November 20, 2024, his body had lain in the AIC Kijabe Mission Hospital mortuary amid a prolonged dispute over where he should be buried. The first family insists tradition mandates burial at the first family’s ancestral home. The second family, led by Njeri, claims Mr Mburu had expressed a desire to be buried in Gilgil next to his second wife, Magdalene Waithera Mburu.
In court, Njeri produced a video allegedly recorded in his hospital bed in which Mr Mburu stated his wish to be buried in Gilgil. However, this was rejected by the trial court on grounds of conflicting testimony about who recorded the footage. The Milimani Chief Magistrate’s Court originally ruled in favour of the first family, ordering burial at Gatanga. That decision was overturned by High Court Judge Hellene Namisi on September 16, 2025, permitting the burial in Gilgil.
READ MORE
Princeton-backed innovation hub launches in Kenya to plug skills gap
Two arrested over Sh3m power infrastructure theft in Kisumu
EU queries Big Tech players Apple, Google, Microsoft over financial scams
World Bank, AfDB in pact to connect 300m with electricity
How trade agency cooked up plan to dish out rice tender
KRA tightens noose on rogue importers with new rules
Nakumatt attempt to liquidate insurer over Sh181m debt flops
Jobs worry as soap maker PZ Cussons mulls over Kenya future
Pepsi ups Kenya foray with new energy drink
Long-distance drivers appeal for dignity, safety, and recognition by the State
The burial took place the following day at 6pm without the presence of his biological children—Ides Wairimu, Joyce Muthoni, Hannah Wanjiku—and attorney Kinani Mburu, who were effectively excluded.
They were represented in court by lawyer Danstan Omari, who strongly condemned the manner of burial conducted by their step-siblings, including Njeri, Geoffrey Nganga, Alice Wambui, and Regina Muthoni, saying: “A man was buried at night without any ceremony. A trend has emerged where, nowadays, deceased persons at the centre of a burial dispute are buried at night, and we shall be moving to court to exhume the body of Mburu Kinani.”
Stay orders
Omari also called on Chief Justice Martha Koome to issue practice directions mandating automatic stays of burial orders for at least 10 days to allow for appeals. “Since the subject matter has been buried, the cause of action changes from stopping burial to exhumation. Mburu Kinani being buried as a dog is completely repugnant to morality and justice,” he said.
“We have instructions to pursue the issue so that if burial must be at Gilgil, it is done when every family member is present and rites are properly observed,” he added.
Advocate Stanley Kinyanji, also representing the first family, criticised what he described as “selective efficiency” by the judiciary.
In her judgment, Justice Namisi noted that Mr Mburu had abandoned many customary ways of life and embraced Christianity, which meant some customary Agikuyu burial traditions ought to yield. She also observed that in March 2020, Mr Mburu contracted a statutory Christian marriage with his second wife, Magdalene, after decades in customary union. This, she ruled, created a legal bond with her and her children. Although the wishes of the deceased are not legally binding, they should be given effect where practicable, she held.
The court further recognised that the Gilgil family produced several witnesses and the video recording to support their claim that Mr Mburu had made “express and unequivocal wishes” to be buried in Gilgil next to his second wife.