Family exhumes father's body in desperate bid to defend land inheritance

In a bizarre incident, a family in Kamagut, Uasin Gishu County, exhumed the remains of their father, who died and was buried in 2010, in protest over an unresolved land tussle.

Yesterday, residents of Leseru village awoke to a shocking sight -- the body of Noah Tanui had been exhumed by his children, who claimed he was the only one who could defend them from persistent threats by an individual claiming ownership of a 17-acre farm, allegedly inherited from their grandmother.

According to Tanui’s children, they reached the decision to exhume his body after goons persistently threatened to evict them from the property since 2022. They stated that they had reported the threats to the authorities, but with no assistance forthcoming, they turned to the man who had always protected them, while he was still alive.

As neighbours watched in disbelief, the late Tanui’s children maintained that they had been allegedly harassed by goons, who appear each planting season to grow maize on portions of their land. They said they would be visiting police stations with their father’s remains in tow.

William Cheruiyot, a son of the deceased, said the harassment escalated on Saturday when machete-wielding youth raided the farm and began planting crops on one section.

Cheruiyot said he and his siblings politely asked the intruders to leave the property, but were instead attacked with machetes and knives.

He claimed previous reports of threats had not been acted upon by security agencies.

“If it means being tossed from one police station to another or even going to prison, we would be going with our father; even if he doesn’t speak, we believe he will be speaking silently while defending us against individuals who want to take away our inheritance,” Cheruiyot said.

He continued, “Security officers keep coming here to warn us against cultivating our land or threaten us with arrest. On Saturday, when youths planted on the section we had prepared using our own money, they attacked us with machetes and knives.”

His brothers, Dismas Kemboi, 23, and Abraham Ruto, 29, displayed injuries to their heads and hands, which they claimes were sustained during the alleged attack.

“No one tells us the mistakes we have committed whenever we seek help from authorities. We are often termed as the perpetrators when we are victims,” says Cheruiyot.

Faith Tanui, a daughter of the deceased, said their family had been frustrated enough by the tussle over a property that they inherited from their grandparents.

She claims the individual claiming ownership of the family land was working in cahoots with others to fabricate charges, resulting to repeated police harassment since 2022.

Their emotional mother, Sally Tanui, said she had tried to stop her children from exhuming their father, but her pleas were in vain. She said the man claiming their land was well known to her. She also revealed that efforts to resolve the dispute through local elders had failed.

As the standoff unfolded, police officers stormed the homestead situated off Eldoret Southern Bypass and arrested the widow, one of her daughters, and two sons.

Uasin Gishu County Police Commander Benjamin Mwanthi confirmed that the four were arrested for exhuming a body without a court order. “It is against the law to exhume a buried body—even if it’s a relative’s—without proper authorisation. It is also unlawful to interfere with human remains,” said the County Commander.

He added that investigations had been launched into the family’s claims of harassment and the alleged failure of police to offer protection.