A terminally ill man facing eviction and the exhumation of his wife’s body stunned a Makueni magistrate’s court after asking for permission to invoke the dreaded Kamba oath known as kithitu in his quest for justice in a bitter land dispute.
The matter has been in and out of court for more than 40 years.
Wheelchair-bound Maswili Mulwa, 85, threatened to resort to the traditional justice system to get to the bottom of a dispute pitting him against the family of his late neighbour, Kisese Mutwanthele.
The court had visited Mzee Mulwa’s homestead in Mutulani village, which sits on the disputed parcel, to verify its boundaries. A section of the land in an orange orchard is claimed by Munywoki Kisese, Willy Wambua Kisese, Morris Muli Kisese and John Kioko Kisese.
The dispute resurfaced last year after Mzee Mulwa buried his wife Mutunge Maswili on a section of the contested land. Attempts by members of the neighbouring family to stop the burial reignited the decades-old conflict and brought the matter before the Makueni courts.
When Makueni Land Registrar Rose Soo and surveyor Elizabeth Kinga’i told the court that Mzee Mulwa had buried his wife on the section of land claimed by the Kisese family, a section of the crowd that had gathered to witness the court process grumbled.
“Allow me to use kithitu to fight for my land. Kindly write a letter to sanction the administration of the oath,” he told Makueni Chief Magistrate Cosmas Maundu.
Court officials watched as Mzee Munywoki Kisese handed Mzee Mulwa a twig, signifying that the complainants welcomed the idea of administering kithitu against them.
The traditional method of resolving disputes is hailed for its fairness but is also feared because of the belief that it can trigger a series of deaths in the family of an offender.
Lawyer Pauline Mwaniki takes Maswili Mulwa (in a wheelchair) and his son Matthews Maswili through a map at Mutulani Village in Makueni County on September 15, 2026.
Photo credit: Pius Maundu | Nation
Mr Maundu, however, dismissed the application, saying he was not familiar with kithitu . He adjourned the case to November 24, when the hearing is scheduled to begin.
The court has also allowed Makueni County Attorney Stanley Nthiwa to continue representing the Kisese family after rejecting concerted efforts by Mzee Mulwa to bar him from the case over an alleged conflict of interest.
“The issue of conflict of interest by Nthiwa was not substantiated. I therefore decline the prayer by the applicant,” Mr Maundu said in a recent ruling.
The land dispute dates back to the 1980s when Mzee Mutwanthele settled on a parcel of land that belonged to the late Mailu Mulandi.
According to a 1983 ruling by a Machakos court, Mr Mulandi had given the land to his sister, Silu Mwania, who was married to Mzee Mutwanthele, “to cultivate but not to settle”.
The court concluded that Mzee Mutwanthele had encroached on the disputed land. The dispute, however, has persisted for decades.
At the centre of the conflict is a long-running boundary dispute between Kilili and Mumbuni locations.
Last week’s visit to Mzee Mulwa’s homestead was the court’s second in two months. Ms Soo and Ms Kinga’i had failed to appear during the first visit in July, despite being ordered by the court to attend.
Apart from verifying the boundaries, last week’s visit was also meant to address concerns over the existence of three different maps of the disputed area, each showing conflicting information on the administrative boundary.
The issue had been raised by Mzee Mulwa through his lawyer, Pauline Mwaniki.
Lawyer Pauline Mwaniki takes Maswili Mulwa through a map at Mutulani Village in Makueni County on September 15, 2026. Mzee Mulwa and the family of his late neighbour, Kisese Mutwanthele, are embroiled in a land dispute which has lasted for more than 40 years.
Photo credit: Pius Maundu | Nation
Ms Soo and Ms Kinga’i took turns explaining that the different maps were the result of a tribunal that sat in 2006 to resolve the land dispute.
Subsequent court cases adopted the tribunal’s resolution, which revised the boundary between Kilili and Mumbuni locations.
The change set off a chain of events that saw the Kisese family’s land increase from 9.2 hectares to 27.8 hectares, while at least 10 neighbouring plots significantly shrank, to the chagrin of their owners.
Mzee Mulwa has lost 2.4 hectares of his 7.2-hectare farm in the process and has since been fighting to recover the land he says was taken from him.
