Family threatens to seek exhumation of kin over alleged secret burial 

The family of the late 90 year-old Mburu Kinani have threatened to move to court to seek exhumation orders after alleging that his body was secretly buried at night by his stepchildren without their knowledge or participation.

Mburu is the father to Kiambu County Deputy Governor Rosemary Njeri Kirika.

Through their lawyers Danstan Omari and Stanley Kinyanjui, the deceased’s biological children argue they learned that their father was buried on the evening of September 17, 2025 at 6 p.m. barely 24 hours after a court issued a judgment.

They explained that although a magistrate had issued orders stopping the burial, the stepchildren allegedly sneaked documents that were not formally on record before the High Court and obtained orders setting aside the magistrate’s ruling.

“The body of the late Mburu was removed from Kijabe Hospital by his stepchildren and buried at night. Our clients now demand that the body be exhumed and accorded a decent burial that allows the participation of all his children,” Omari said.

The late Mburu, father to Kiambu County Deputy Governor Rosemary Njeri Kirika, has been at the centre of family dispute over burial arrangements.

His biological children, led by Joyce Mburu, argue that they were unfairly sidelined in the process.

Court records indicate that on September 16, the High Court delivered a judgment overturning an earlier ruling that had favored the biological children.

Although they (biological children) immediately filed an urgent application seeking to stay the decision pending appeal, the body had already been buried, rendering the application overtaken by events.

The High Court subsequently marked the matter as withdrawn and closed the file.

The family’s lawyers now say they will be filing a fresh application before a relevant court to have the body exhumed.

They also want to petition the Chief Justice to issue practice directions requiring that decisions in burial disputes carry an automatic 10-to-14-day stay, to give aggrieved parties time to file appeals.

“Being buried as a dog is completely repugnant to morality and to justice but we have instructions to pursue that issue should be done and if the courts will uphold that the burial must be at Gilgil then it must be done when every member of the family is present and all burial rites are performed by the public and by members of the family members,” said Omari.