Deceased's curse and death threats stun mourners at a burial in Kitui

 A burial ceremony of an elderly woman in Migwani, Mwingi West in Kitui was on Saturday briefly interrupted when one of the speakers warned family members of curse and imminent death if any of them defied the deceased’s will.

Mary Kavengi (second right) with other relatives during the burial of late Joyce Kavengi Katulu, 83, in Migwani town location, Mwingi West, Kitui County on August 7, 2021. Photo/ MUTUA wa KANYANGE

While delivering her testimony, Kiluti Sammy, told the mourners that her aunt, the late Joyce Kavengi Katulu, 83, had left her with a declaration of her wishes regarding the disposal of her property after her death.

Ms Kiluti said the deceased told her at a hospital bed at Mwingi Level Four Hospital before her last breath, that her third born grandson Musee Kavengi, was the ostensibly the owner of her residential house she possessed and resided in Migwani town.

Amid tension, the speaker said the deceased told her that Musee’s mother, Mary Kavengi and other siblings should vacate the premises and own her other property located elsewhere.

The grandson’s mother, Mary, is customarily married to late Katulu as a Kaweto, a Kamba transitional marriage between barren women who wed young women to sire them children.

The grandmother was a businesswoman and engaged in buying and selling baskets, kiondos at the famous Kariakor market in Nairobi.

Kiluti said she was brought up in her childhood by Katulu and that she held her aunt’s last words to the family with high regards and truthfulness.

Will

“I stand before this podium at my aunt’s burial to announce that the late declared her will to me. She asked me, in the event she dies, I should pronounce her will publicly during her burial,” Kiluti told attentive mourners.  

She said Katulu told her she had blessed Musee and given him the house she was living in.

And then, Kiluti went ahead boldly to drop the bombshell that if any of the deceased’s family members was displeased with her determination, he, she or they is cursed and eventually condemned to hanging.

Her speech was drowned with shouts from Mary, her other children Ngumi and Mutave who stood up to jeer Kiluti describing her as a liar and a troublemaker.

They surged towards where Kaluti was in an attempt to eject her out, prompting other relatives to intervene and cool down tempers. “You are the one who has spoiled this family. Shut up,” Mary wailed at Kiluti before she was restrained from a physically confrontation.

After the hostility, normalcy was restored and the presiding St Patrick’s Migwani Catholic Church priest, Father Charles Kyalo, took over the ceremony to a peaceful conclusion.

Story by MUTUA wa KANYANGE