The High Court in Kerugoya has given the greenlight for the burial of Racheal Muthoni Wandeto after ruling in favor of her family in a dispute over custody of her remains.
This comes after mourners were thrown into confusion on May 28, 2026, when the late gospel artist’s funeral was stopped following a court order.
In delivering the decision, Kerugoya High Court Resident Magistrate Harisson Mwangi said the court had to weigh two competing claims: a confirmed parent-child relationship and an alleged customary marriage that the court had not seen substantiated.
“The court is therefore confronted with a proven parent-child relationship on one hand and an alleged customary marriage, which remains an unproven reality. In the court’s view, the proven relationship must prevail over the unproven one,” Mwangi said.
The magistrate added that the balance of convenience supported keeping the body intact until it could be released to the party that demonstrated the strongest legal claim.
As a result, the court dismissed a preliminary objection dated 28 May 2026 and allowed an application filed on 25 May 2026.
Among the orders issued, the court granted a temporary injunction restraining the respondent, his agents, servants, or anyone acting on his behalf from accessing, collecting, removing, or burying the deceased’s remains until the suit is determined.
The court also directed Montezuma Funeral Home Ltd to release Racheal Wandeto’s remains to the applicant, who would handle burial arrangements. It further authorized the applicant to proceed with burial plans pending the final outcome of the case.
Speaking after the ruling, family lawyer John Kahiga welcomed the decision, saying it finally cleared the way for the deceased’s burial.
“The court has clearly given us the go-ahead to bury Rachel Wandeto and directed Montezuma Funeral Home to release her remains to my client so that burial arrangements can proceed,” Kahiga said.
The lawyer said the court acknowledged that Peter Jaramba was the father of the two children left behind by the deceased. However, he argued that this alone did not automatically entitle him to the remains.
“The court was categorical that although Mr. Peter Jaramba was the father of the two children, that itself is not enough to prove that he should be given the body. Our evidence showed that there was no marriage and no customary marriage was conducted. Therefore, my client remains the person entitled to bury Rachel Wandeto,” he added.
The ruling ends a long-running family dispute that had delayed the burial as rival parties fought to have a court determine who had the right to inter her remains.
Wandeto had drawn national attention over a tattoo of President William Ruto. She died on 18 May 2026 after suffering severe burn injuries following a brutal petrol attack by assailants in the Mwiki area of Nairobi County.
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