A Nairobi court has intervened in a bitter family dispute concerning the burial of the late Milka Moraa Ongubo, a retired nurse and former Chief Inspector of Police. The Chief Magistrate’s Court at Milimani issued orders on Tuesday, September 29, temporarily stopping the planned interment of the deceased, who passed away on September 21, 2025, in Nakuru. The order followed an urgent application filed by three of her children against two of their siblings.
The applicants, Julia Kemunto Ongubo, Joyce Kerubo Ongubo, and Jackson Momanyi Ongubo, through their lawyer Danstan Omari, sought to halt the funeral, which was scheduled for a night vigil on October 2 and burial on October 3 in Nyamira County.
In court documents, they accused their brother, Justus Morara Ongubo, and sister, Judy Kemuma Ongubo, of making unilateral arrangements and deliberately excluding them from the process.
The plaintiffs’ supporting affidavit detailed a series of events leading to the dispute. They alleged that Justus, who resides in the United States, arrived in Kenya in October 2025 and “clandestinely” removed their mother from her matrimonial home in Langata, Nairobi, without informing them. They stated that their mother, who suffered from advanced dementia, was taken without her clothing or essential medication.
For approximately five weeks, her whereabouts were kept secret from them until Justus announced her death from an alleged cardiac arrest in a family WhatsApp group on September 21.
The applicants, who claim to have been their mother’s primary caregivers for over a decade, expressed shock at the news, stating that a recent medical check-up had not indicated any imminent heart condition.
They further told the court they had not been provided with any medical report or post-mortem results. Their application included a request for a joint post-mortem to determine the cause of death.
Lawyer Danstan Omari certified the matter as urgent, arguing that without court intervention, his clients would suffer “irreparable harm” and be permanently denied closure.
In a replying affidavit, the second respondent, Judy Kemuma Ongubo, opposed the application, describing it as “frivolous, vexatious, and a clear abuse of court process.” She denied that there was any burial dispute, asserting that the deceased would be buried at her home in Nyamira County.
She stated that the defendants had not prevented the plaintiffs from participating and noted that a burial is a public ceremony from which no one is exempted.
She urged the court to dismiss the application to allow the family to proceed with the funeral on October 3.
Upon perusal of the initial application, Honourable F. Terer, Senior Resident Magistrate, issued a temporary order restraining the respondents from removing the remains of the late Milka Moraa Ongubo from Umash Funeral Home in Nakuru. The court also directed the funeral home to ensure compliance with this order.
The case has been scheduled for an inter-partes hearing, where both sides will be heard, on October 1, 2025. The orders have effectively put the deceased’s burial on hold until the court determines the matter.
