Two wives fight over the body their dead husband in Nyamira County

Drama arose at St. Joseph Nyansiongo mortuary on Thursday after two wives clashed over the dead body of their husband.

Wilfred Nyakundi Omari was an elderly man of 57 years who was also a head teacher at Matunwa primary school, died early this month after a long illness.

Mr. Wilfred had three wives where the first wife died then he decided to marry the second wife (Rose Kemunto) and later added another wife (Jackline Kemunto) as his second wife.

Nyakundi was to be buried at his first wife’s home in Ekenani 1 in Rigoma ward as per the Kisii traditions.

The second wife went to the morgue on Thursday to take the body and bury it in Borabu Nyamira contrary to the wife’s expectations.

According to the brother of the deceased, the second wife wanted to burn the body of the departed using an acid.

“I heard that yesterday Jack went to the mortuary to take the body and she wanted to take the body and she had already dug the grave. We dint know who dug the first spit (egekamago) as our traditions demand.”

The brother added on why he doubts that his brother died of an illness.

 “She also had an acid which she intended to use in burning my brother’s body. We don’t know the motive behind it. We asking for the government intervention to help us conduct a post mortem to validate on what killed my brother.” He said.  

The first wife clarified on how they used to collaborate in taking care of their late husband until things changed abruptly.

“We used to assist each other in taking care our husband from the time he became ill. It started from Tenwek hospital In Eldoret together with my brother Philip. When his situation worsened and he was to undergo chemotherapy, the woman hid the husband for threw weeks without any communication with any family member. My brothers tried to reach out to him but she blocked them.

According to Rose, even when the teacher died, Jack didn’t tell them but they received the news from some else.  

“Even when he died, she didn’t call us but instead chose to call someone who is in Nairobi and that’s where we got the news from so we don’t specifically don’t know what killed as there was no contact with other family members” she noted.

One of the daughters to Nyakundi claimed that their father always wished them the best.

“Our father taught us well by taking us to school and we never lacked school fees. In spite of my age, I used to call him whenever I’m broke and he used to come to my aid by sending me money. We wished he would still be there when we succeed so that we can also help him” said his daughter.

“We are asking for help from the government because I’m the first wife and I’m the one who should bury the husband as per our Kisii customs and traditions” lamented the first wife.

Our efforts as Getembe Tv to get the second wife to gather her viewpoints on the matter were futile as she wasn’t picking our calls.

The body of Mr. Wilfred Nyakundi is still held by the authorities at Nyansiongo mortuary.