In today’s court news, a Nakuru Magistrate’s Court has issued an order barring Kiambu Deputy Governor Rosemary Kirika and her siblings from burying their late brother, Charles Vincent Waweru Mugethi, on contested land in Gilgil, Nakuru County.
Magistrate Abdulqadir Ramadhan granted a temporary injunction preventing Kirika and her four siblings Alice Wambui, Geoffrey Ng’ang’a, Regina Muthoni, and Patrick Karanja, from conducting the burial, which was scheduled for Wednesday, May 14, 2025. The court also restrained their agents or anyone acting on their behalf from proceeding with the burial.
“Pending the hearing and determination of this application, the respondents, their agents, assigns, heirs, and anyone acting under their instructions are hereby restrained from interring the remains of the late Charles Vincent Waweru Mugethi on any portion of land derived from Land Parcel No. Gilgil I.R 96015/1, registered in the name of the late Mburu Kinani,” the court order stated.
The case was brought by three biological children of the late Mburu Kinani and Phidelis Wanjiru Mburu—Ides Wairimu Mburu, Joyce Muthoni Mburu, and Hannah Wanjiru Mburu. They moved to court urgently after learning via social media about the planned burial of Waweru on land they claim is currently under legal dispute and belongs to their late father.
The contested land is allegedly registered in the name of Magdaline Waithira, Kinani’s fourth wife. The applicants argued that this land is part of a larger estate currently entangled in legal proceedings before the High Court in Nakuru and is protected under a court order maintaining the status quo following Kinani’s death on November 20, 2024.
The three step-siblings further alleged that there are ongoing investigations into suspected fraudulent land transfers involving forged signatures of the late Kinani. They claimed that Kirika and her siblings, unable to transfer the land directly into their names, had used their mother, Magdaline Waithira, as a proxy to acquire portions of the estate.
According to their submissions, the burial was to take place on a 14-acre portion of the land that was transferred to Waithira at a time when Kinani was gravely ill and incapacitated. The land is now under a new title: LR. 3777/1664.
They warned that proceeding with the burial could further complicate the legal dispute, particularly if it is later found that the land was acquired fraudulently, possibly resulting in an exhumation order.
The court directed the Officer Commanding Gilgil Police Station to ensure enforcement of the injunction and scheduled the case for mention on May 15, 2025. It also instructed that all respondents be formally served with the court orders.
In a related development, the body of Mzee Mburu Kinani remains unburied, with a separate burial dispute still pending before the Milimani Chief Magistrate’s Court.
