Families agony as land disputes see bodies stay long in morgue

In Kisii, the dead are not resting in peace as many families are forced to keep bodies of their loved ones in mortuaries for more than a year because of land disputes over where to bury them.

The burial disputes have become a serious social challenge with many families agonising over how long they will be locked in court before a determination is arrived at on when and where to bury their deceased relatives.

Many are spending millions of shillings to fight for and against burial of their kin. Court orders barring interment in the contested land have become the order of the day.

Relatives of the deceased continue to either wade off land grabbers, on the one hand, while on the other, those who were dubbed and bought land from criminals find themselves in a rock and a hard place, when tragedy strikes.

Authorities say land cases contribute up to 80 percent of the criminal cases in Kisii where mostly close relatives turn against each other in pursuit of property.

Property ownership in Kisii has become one of the deadliest struggles for resources in Nyanza region.

For instance, a number of people have lost their lives with individuals targeting to take away the victims’ land accused of either sponsoring or actively participating in the killings.

In some cases, families have had to keep bodies of their dead relatives in the morgues for as long as 10 years as burial land disputes linger in courts.

Population explosion and lust for more land by those who want to expand their investments have compounded the already heavily congested community.

At the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital Mortuary, attendants say that they are preserving 21 bodies as they cannot be collected for burial because of land disputes.

Mr Joseph Mainga, who is in charge of the mortuary said there have been increased cases where a body is prepared for burial only to be returned either immediately or the following day.

“It is wrong to disturb the dead. The deceased are supposed to be buried peacefully. We have been forced to preserve some bodies for years. It is not only expensive but traditionally an abomination,” said Mr Mainga.

Mr Kenneth Bosire, a hearse operator says, “We have seen people prepare for the burial of their kin, buy a coffin, clothes, dress the deceased then on the material day of interment, they are served with a court order.”

One such case is that of Ms Catherine Sarange, whose body has remained at the Kisii Teaching and Referral Mortuary for more than six years.

Twice, residents have stopped Ms Sarange's burial on her family’s land, whose ownership has been a hotly contested issue.

Sarange was brutally killed by people suspected to have been hired by a tycoon in the town who was eyeing her family’s land to expand his business interests.

Although suspects of the killing have been convicted, residents have resisted her burial demanding that the alleged sponsor of her killing must be punished too.

In the latest botched burial incident, Kisii Central police boss Mr Amos Ambasa ordered that Sarange’s body be returned to the mortuary after residsents threatened to lynch anyone who was forcing the burial.

“I am urging you to be calm and continue with your work as usual. Return the body to the mortuary and plan how you will accord Catherine a proper burial,” said Mr Ambasa.

The fresh burial contention for Ms Sarange arose after a court in Kisii gave orders for eviction of the woman’s husband, their children and a third owner who had bought a section of the property from the deceased woman.

It is alleged by villagers that the rich man who was allegedly behind the killing of Sarange has been the invisible force behind the forced burial of the deceased in a land that does not belong to her.

But even so, residents have vowed that the woman’s remains will not be interred until she gets back all her land, which she died fighting for.

Although the authorities in Kisii partially solved the controversy surrounding Sarange’s body, residents say her family is yet to get back all her land, the reason she has not been laid to rest yet.

Ms Sarange was reported missing from her home in Jogoo estate, near Kisii town on June 2, 2017. Her decapitated body was recovered in a sewage manhole wrapped in a polythene bag, a month after she had disappeared from her home. 

Sarange’s headless body has been lying at the mortuary for six years now, awaiting conclusion of cases pertaining her murder and disputed land.

In another case, former Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr Fred Matiang’i and his then lands colleague, Ms Faridah Karoney, were forced to intervene in a case where the body of an elderly man had stayed in the mortuary for over six years after his relatives received a court order barring them from interring his remains in his ancestral land.

The remains of Mzee Oribo Abuga, from Iranya village in Nyaribari Masaba constituency had been kept at the Nyamache Hospital mortuary due to a land conflict.

A family in Bonchari is unable to proceed with the burial of their mother due to a two-year long land conflict.

Another family in Mosocho has been waiting for more than two months to bury their mother in her ancestral land, but a land case stops them.

Her body has been returned to the mortuary twice and her poor family is agonizing, not knowing for how long they will wait.

Kisi County Land Registrar Mr Steve Mogaka says that land buyers are to blame for the increased disputes.

“We have seen some members of the family selling land without informing other members. Most of the cases pending or ongoing in court are as a result of that. When that is discovered, conflict among the family occurs. We plead with buyers to confirm land details before purchasing it,” said Mr Mokaya.

People in the region believe that authorities should come down heavy on the land grabbers in order to eradicate some of these problems.

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