A pastor from Laikipia has exhumed the body of his mother after a disagreement with her siblings.
Apostle John Paul Muriithi, an evangelist at Judah Altar of Victory Church, said his mother's relatives had demanded that her remains be removed from the family land where she was buried in 2021.
The mother, Lucy Wanja Mwangi, was buried in Gituamba village in Gatero location of Laikipia West constituency.
Residents were left speechless during the exhumation exercise that was overseen by police officers.
Apostle Muriithi, is the eldest child of the deceased who died aged 60.
“I want to go and bury her in another place after I was asked by her relatives to take the body away from here. The body will be reburied in my farm in Matuu, Machakos county in a week's time," Muriithi said.
Public health officer Daniel Kahoro and area senior assistant chief Beatrice Wainehe supervised Monday’s exhumation while five armed police officers provided security during the exercise.
The grave containing the remains of Wanja was one of the five tombs at a section of the family land.
The exhumation, which followed an order issued by a Nyahururu court, attracted curious neighbours who thronged the graveyard to witness the rare occurrence.
Residents said it was the first exhumation in the location. The chief urged families to extensively consult before burials to avoid such incidents.
Muriithi arrived in the village in a convoy of vehicles, including a hearse for carrying the body manned by two female morticians.
He uprooted the cross from the grave, giving way to hired locals to scoop soil to reach the body.
Faithful from his church and friends who accompanied him sang hymns continuously as the scooping of soil from the grave went on.
Once the body was put in the hearse, a banana was planted in the empty grave as per the dictates of Kikuyu cultural norms.
A neighbour said the matter was connected to land because the relatives of the deceased thought that by being buried there, her children have a right to claim a share of the farm.
