By Wanja Waweru
A Juja billionaire will be laid to rest on a land that divides his two homesteads, where his two wives currently reside, in an unusual burial dispute that was settled by a Thika court.
To share their husbands with one another even in death, each wife will give up a little plot of ground on either side of the fence where the grave will be dug.
One of Juja’s wealthiest residents, the late Christopher Mbote, resided with his two wives on a great 2.5-acre tract of land in the town of Juja, with a wooden fence separating the residences.
The first wife, Margret Waithera, is claimed to have begun making arrangements for his burial after his death on January 16 of this year, excluding the second wife, Anne Njeri, by digging his grave in her property.
Njeri subsequently petitioned the court to halt the funeral, which was scheduled for Friday, January 27, citing his lack of participation in the planning.
“If the burial is to go ahead as planned, my family and I will not have access to his grave now and in the future,” argued Njeri in her petition.
After days of battle in court, Thika Chief Magistrate Stella Atambo intervened, calling for a truce by the two parties.
“If we start hearing this case in court due to your obstinate stances, it might take months to conclude and your husband might rot at the morgue. If the concern is on the burial site, why can’t you come to a common ground as no family is bigger than the other,” pleaded the magistrate.
None of the families, each with its lawyer, was however willing to blink during the tussle and were determined to carry on the court battle.
