The protracted burial dispute involving the late Mburu Kinani, father to Kiambu Deputy Governor Rosemary Njeri Kirika, has reignited after his children from the first marriage vowed to move to court seeking orders to exhume his remains.
Mburu, who died on November 20, 2024, at the age of 92, was buried on the night of September 17, 2025, under circumstances that have since sparked fresh controversy.
The dispute had initially been settled on June 12, 2025, when Magistrate Gerhard Gitonga directed that Mburu be laid to rest at his ancestral home in Gatanga, Murang’a County, next to his first wife’s grave.
However, that ruling was challenged at the High Court by Rosemary Njeri and her siblings Geoffrey Nganga Mburu, Alice Wambui Mburu, Regina Muthoni Mburu, and Patrick Karanja Mburu who argued that the magistrate erred in law.
Following the appeal, the High Court overturned the magistrate’s decision, granting Rosemary and her siblings the right to bury their father.
On the evening of September 17, Mburu’s body was retrieved from Kijabe Mission Hospital and interred quietly at 6:00 p.m., a move condemned by his first wife’s family and their legal representatives.
Lawyers Danstan Omari and Stanley Kinyanjui decried the burial, claiming they were denied an opportunity to appeal the High Court ruling. They further alleged that Rosemary’s side had introduced new documents during the appeal that were never presented at the magistrate’s court, and despite their application to have the documents struck out, the judge declined.
“The court delivered its ruling on September 16, 2025, and immediately proceeded to overturn the magistrate’s decision without granting leave to appeal,” said Advocate Kinyanjui.
Omari strongly condemned the circumstances of the burial, describing it as an affront to justice and dignity. He announced plans to petition the Chief Justice to issue practice directions ensuring that burial dispute rulings are automatically stayed to allow time for appeals.
“Mburu Kinani was the father of Kiambu’s Deputy Governor. For him to be buried in such a manner, as though he were of no consequence, is morally and legally unacceptable,” Omari remarked.
The dispute stems from longstanding tensions between the children of Mburu’s two wives. His daughters from the first marriage represented by Omari and Kinyanjui had sought court recognition of their right to oversee the burial, insisting their father be laid to rest in Gatanga beside their late mother, Wanjiru Mburu.
They testified that Gatanga was their parents’ matrimonial home, established decades ago, and argued that it was their father’s rightful resting place.
On the other hand, children from Mburu’s second wife, Magdaline Mburu, maintained that their family home was in Gilgil, Nakuru County, where Magdaline herself was buried.
The rift, dating back to when Magdaline joined the household in 1983 with her nine children, escalated into a bitter legal battle over their patriarch’s final resting place.
