The Milimani Commercial Court has ordered that all five children of the late Milka Moraa Ongubo a retired senior cop jointly participate in her burial and funeral arrangements after a bitter family dispute over her burial.
On Wednesday, Senior Resident Magistrate F. Terer ruled that neither side of the family represented by siblings Julia Kemunto Ongubo and Joyce Kerubo Ongubo on one hand, and Justus Morara Ongubo and Judy Kemuma Ongubo on the other had superior rights over where or how their mother should be buried.
The court emphasized that as biological children, they possess equal rights to make decisions concerning their mother’s burial.
Three siblings had moved to court on September 28, 2025, seeking to stop their siblings from proceeding with burial plans that allegedly excluded them.
They accused their brother who resides in the United States, of taking their mother from her Langata home without notice weeks before her death, and later announcing her passing through a WhatsApp post claiming she had suffered cardiac arrest.
They further alleged they were denied access to medical or post-mortem reports and only learned through an obituary notice that the burial had been scheduled without their knowledge. They sought an injunction to halt the burial and a joint post-mortem to establish the cause of death.
In response, their other siblings argued that the application was frivolous and that the deceased was to be buried at her home in Nyamira County, insisting there was no dispute.
They said they had not prevented their sisters from participating and maintained that the deceased had been elderly and ailing.
After hearing both sides, Magistrate Terer ruled that while the burial site in Nyamira was not contested, there was a clear dispute over decision-making and inclusion in the arrangements.
The court directed that the late Ongubo’s remains be moved from Umash Funeral Home Nakuru to Umash Funeral Home Nairobi for a memorial service at CITAM Karen where she worshipped before final burial in Nyamira.
The court ordered a joint post-mortem to be conducted by October 14 and allowed the memorial service to be held not later than October 15. The body is to be transported to Nyamira on October 16 for burial on October 17.
Both sides must participate in preparing the eulogy and burial programme, with the OCS Langata and OCS Nyamira directed to ensure compliance.
Justice Terer concluded that the deceased’s children have equal rights to honor their mother’s memory, ruling that “there is absolutely no prejudice if the body of the deceased is brought to Nairobi for her family and church members to pay their last respects.”