A clan in Teso North, Busia County, has protested the continued retention of a woman’s body at a mortuary for 13 years over an accumulated bill.
Jesca Ateng’e’s body has accrued a Sh3 million mortuary fee after her family was barred from burying her on her matrimonial land.
The body has been held at Bungoma Level 5 Mortuary since 2012 when a land ownership dispute arose between her family and a developer who claimed to have purchased the property.
A court case over the ownership was concluded in 2022 in favour of Ateng’e’s husband, Clement Sirari. Sirari later sought to have the developer pay costs, including the mortuary charges.
Sirari passed away last week at the age of 97 and was buried on the same parcel of land at Kakapel village, Teso North constituency, on Saturday.
During his burial, Imare clan chairman Reuben Osiru described the prolonged retention of Ateng’e’s body as unfortunate and called for urgent intervention.
“As a clan, we are giving the family of the person who sued the late Sirari two months to ensure our daughter receives a dignified burial,” Osiru said.
“We want Jesca to be buried without further conditions, and we urge the government to address this matter so justice is seen to have been done,” he added.
Gerald Ekisa from Angurai North termed the 13-year delay in Ateng’e’s burial as an extraordinary case in Kenya’s history.
“As a leader, I call for a speedy resolution of this protracted standoff. Had the late Sirari not won the land dispute, he would not have been issued a burial permit for the land,” Ekisa said.
Nominated MCA Rose Emoit said there was need for justice for Ateng’e’s family after years of what she termed “suffering in death” and attempts to deny them access to their land.
“As leaders, we will pursue this matter to its conclusion. We want Jesca to be buried beside her husband’s grave instead of continuing this prolonged ordeal,” Emoit said.
