Court orders two wives to bury husband at the boundary between their properties as they fight over his body

A family of two wives and 13 children has been ordered by a Thika Court in Kenya to bury their husband on a boundary between their two neighbouring parcels of land to avoid a looming family dispute.

The late prominent Kiambu businessman, Christopher Mbote, was supposed to be buried on Friday, January 27, 2023, before the second wife went to court to block the process. The first wife had already dug a grave on her property.

Chief Magistrate Stella Atambo also ordered that the grave should be dug equally from both sides of the land and that both parties should have ease in accessing the graveyard.

The second wife, Ann Njeri Mbote, went to court to stop the burial preparations, arguing that she has not been involved in preparations since the death of her husband with whom they had six children.

The family was also ordered to have a Title Deed of that particular piece of land bearing the names of the two wives with whom he had sired a total of 13 children.

“The Court orders that the deceased Christopher Mbote be buried on a parcel of land known as LR13537/101. That the place of burial shall be excised from the mother title and a separate title thereof shall be issued in the joint names of the two wives,” CM Atambo ordered.

Both wives, represented by their lawyers, agreed that the burial preparations will leave no party outside and that the deceased will be buried on February 3rd, 2023, as ordered by the court.

“We will do our best to make sure that these two families are at peace. We thank the judiciary for the mediation and we hope going forward, the family of Christopher will live together just the way he wanted.” Advocate Mungai Wainaina representing the second wife told Citizen Digital.

Mbote, 78, had sired seven children with his first wife, Margret Waithira and according to his family, he wished to be buried in his rural home in Gatundu. He died at a Nairobi hospital on Monday last week after a long illness.