Widow battles Ugandan in-laws over burial rights
A Nairobi widow and her children are locked in a legal tussle with her Ugandan in-laws over the burial rights of her deceased husband.
Mrs Florence Kabuye, wife of the late John Katale Kabuye, told the court on Tuesday that she plans to bury him at the Lang’ata Cemetery.
Documents before the court indicate the deceased moved with his family to Kenya in 1981. The couple had seven children and lived in Nyayo estate, Embakasi.
The matter is being heard by High Court Judge Hatari Waweru
The widow claims her deceased husband had told her, before his death, of his desire to be buried at the cemetery.
Mr Katale died after a short illness in a Nairobi Hospital on January 15, this year.
His body is in mortuary pending the court’s decision over the burial place.
Brother of the deceased, Dennis Kasule Sekitto, told the court that burial at the Lan’gata cemetery will not be an appropriate send-off since the family has a vast ancestral land in Uganda.
He said they were born 16 children and, despite differences amongst themselves, that alone is not sufficient grounds to make their brother to be left buried like ” someone who never had relatives”.
“We want a permanent burial place for our brother, a place that will be there for many years for his sons and grandchildren to see. A cemetery is not permanent and we have had reports where bodies buried in Lan’gata cemetery are exhumed to create space for new ones,” said Mr Sekitto.