When the body of Mburu Kinani, 92, was finally buried in Gilgil at 6.45pm on September 17, 2025, it was in a shallow grave and at a hushed ceremony attended by only a handful of mourners.
Kinani, who died on November 20, 2024, after a long illness, left behind a fortune estimated at Sh350 million. His estate included money in bank accounts, vast tracts of land, shares in multiple cooperative societies and proceeds from his avocado exports to Europe.
His polygamous household included wives Phyllis Wanjiru Mburu, Cecilia Mumbi Mburu, Salome Wambui, and Magdalene Waithira — who bore him nine children including Kiambu Deputy Governor Rosemary Kirika.
Kiambu Deputy Governor Rosemary Njeri Kirika.
Photo credit: Pool
But instead of a dignified send-off, Kinani’s burial became the subject of sensational conversations after videos emerged online showing his coffin being lowered hurriedly into a shallow grave.
The hurried burial was done in Gilgil despite a Court of Appeal order directing both his first and second families to jointly lay him to rest.
Businessman Mburu Kinani, 92, was buried in a shallow grave.
Photo credit: Pool
After Kinani died, the second family - including Kiambu DG Kirika - moved to AIC Kijabe Hospital while seeking to bury him at their home Gilgil, Nakuru County. However, the hospital declined to release his body.
Businessman Mburu Kinani, 92, who was buried in Gilgil on September 17, 2025. The tycoon lay in a morgue for ten months as his wives and 20 children tore each other apart in court.
Photo credit: Pool
Later on November 23, the first family made up of Edith Wairimu Mburu, Joyce Muthoni Mburu and Hannah Wanjiku moved to the Milimani Law Courts and secured a stay order that the body should not be released to the second family until they settle the burial dispute.
The first family argued that according to Agikuyu customs, their father ought to be buried at his ancestral home in Gatanga, Murang'a County, where his parents and his first wife, Phelis Wanjiru Mburu, are interred.
On June 12, 2025, a magistrate court sitting in Nairobi led by Gerald Gitonga ruled in favour of the first family. It ordered that he be buried at his Gatanga home next to his first wife.
Aggrieved, the second family moved to the High Court and filed an appeal, seeking to have the the decision of the lower court overturned.
The second family comprising DG Kirika asserted that her father's final wishes, his life choices and personal law dictated that he be buried on his own land in Gilgil, Nakuru County. They argued that it is at Gilgil that he had resided over the last four decades.
They further argued that the lower court in Nairobi lacked territorial jurisdiction to handle the burial dispute as the subject of the row, being the burial site, was either Gilgil or Gatanga.
They also claimed that the magistrate erred in law and fact by completely disregarding the express wishes of the late Kinani as he had said he wanted to be buried next to his wife, Magdalene Waithira, on his land in Gilgil.
Bottom-line: bury him together
Appellate judge Hellen Namisi, while issuing a judgement on September 16 this year, ordered that Mr Kinani be buried in Gilgil after overturning the previous ruling. She noted that although there were conflicting testimonies, the court found that Kinani's oral wishes regarding his final resting place could not be proven.
"The trial court’s finding that his wishes could not be confirmed or verified is, therefore, upheld. Where the deceased’s wishes are unascertainable or unproved, the court must turn to other principles to resolve the dispute," she said.
The main competing arguments advanced by the parties were Kikuyu customary law and the doctrine of personal and legal proximity.
"This court finds that the fundamental proximity in this case is overwhelmingly established not by a single factor, but by the confluence of the deceased’s entire life narrative. This includes the legal proximity created by his statutory marriage to Magdalene Waithera after the demise of his first wife; the geographical proximity of the four-decade residence in Gilgil; the familial proximity evidenced by his life with and care by the appellants in his later years; and the emotional distance from the respondents demonstrated by the clear documentary evidence of estrangement. It is this holistic view of a person’s life, not a singular reliance on contested customs or past legal status, that must guide this court in determining where he should be laid to rest," Justice Namisi said in her judgement.
She also noted that the burial dispute has no bearing whatsoever on the dependants' rights under the law of succession, referring to the common belief among Kenyans that burying a loved one grants a party more rights over others.
In her ruling, Justice Namisi ruled that Mr Kinani be jointly buried by both the first and second family.
"The burial shall be conducted in a manner that respects his Christian faith and his Agikuyu heritage, with the specific arrangements to be led by the appellants, who shall accommodate the participation of the respondents."
The first family, however, claims it was not involved in his funeral and has already filed a court application to have Kinani's body exhumed and given a decent burial.
They claim they have unearthed that the millions of shillings and vast parcels of land is the reason their father was hurriedly buried so that they can be disinherited.
The second family disputes this theory, maintaining they wanted to give their father a decent send-off.
