Mbotela burial in public cemetery sparks debate on honouring icons

The burial of veteran broadcaster Leonard Mambo Mbotela at Lang’ata Public Cemetery on Saturday has sparked intense debate across Kenya.

From politicians to artists and media personalities, many expressed the view that interring Mbotela’s remains in a public cemetery belittled a man they considered an icon.

Mbotela, a revered radio veteran, passed away on February 7, 2025, at the age of 85. His final resting place has ignited conversations about how Kenya commemorates its national heroes and whether a dedicated site should be established for figures of such prominence.

National Assembly Speaker Moses Wetang’ula was among the prominent figures who publicly disapproved of the decision to bury Mbotela in a public cemetery.

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The legislators celebrated Mbotela as a hero with Kitui south MP Rachael Nyamai suggesting that his works should be preserved in the national museums.

“I’m also a very unhappy person. When the family of Mbotela told us he is going to be interred at Lang’ata Cemetery, Kenyans wondered how. We also learned he was not of Kenyan descent but from Malawi,” said Mavoko MP Patrick Makau.

MP Makau told the house that “How I wish as a nation we can honour such a man and give him a status that befits a hero of his nature. How I wish Mbotela’s funeral including the costs could be undertaken and taken care of by the Kenyan government.”

“It’s also important to know that even if the family doesn’t have a place to lay him to rest, this nation has always honoured heroes. Mbotela must be honoured as so,” he added.

Veteran media personality Fred Obachi Machoka also expressed disappointment suggesting that the president should designate a burial site for heroes. “Today I am angry. Very, very angry! To inter the remains of Legend Mambo Mbotela in Lang’ata Cemetery is wrong…This country requires a Heroes Corner for the burial of our Mashujaa if we really value them,” Machoka wrote on his Facebook account.

“Artists and broadcasters, never forget that we are on our own. This icon deserved a statue, a commercial street named in his honour, a state funeral, and possibly even a national holiday,” said DJ Shitty.

While some see the decision as motivated by financial constraints, lack of land, or family disputes, others argue that burial in a public cemetery is a matter of personal choice.

Personal choice

However, an examination of burial practices in Kenya reveals that Lang’ata Cemetery is not exclusively for the landless, rootless, or impoverished.

Some of Kenya’s most prominent and wealthy families have designated burial sites at the cemetery.

The Standard has established that the family of Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta, has secured burial sites there, despite owning thousands of acres of land across the country.

The Bahá’í community - a sector of the Hindu- in Kenya are also allocated also has a designated burial site at Lang’ata Cemetery.

The Muslim community also has allocated burial sites at Lang’ata. The late former Garissa Senator Yussuf Haji is among notable personalities who were buried at the Muslim cemetery.

According to Nairobi City County Executive Member for Public Health, Tom Nyakaba, families, communities, and religious groups can book burial sites at public cemeteries.

“You can book a cemetery as a family and then we allocate you the number of burial sites that you want,” said Nyakaba.

“We offer two types of burial sites. It can be permanent or temporary. Temporary graves may be reused after some time, whereas permanent graves remain untouched,” he added.

Nyakaba added that families that have booked permanent graves can use them whichever way they wish - they can cement and fence the site.

During the funeral on Saturday, Mbotela’s nephew, Herbert Mwachiro, revealed that it was his uncle’s wish to be interred at Lang’ata Cemetery.

In his memoir, Mbotela traced his roots to Malawi but acknowledged that he had no personal ties there. He did not know any relatives there.He never lived with or sought out relatives from his ancestral homeland.

Mbotela rose to fame in 1963 when he entered the broadcasting industry at a time when radio was the primary source of news. He became the voice and eyes of Kenyans, captivating audiences with his football commentary and news reading. He was best known for his popular programme Je Huu Ni Ungwana?, which aired on KBC. 

Mbotela is not the first renowned individual to be buried at Lang’ata Cemetery. Earlier this year, Malkia Strikers volleyball legend Janet Wanja Mungai was laid to rest there in a private family ceremony on January 3, 2025.

Former reggae MC Fayah Muma, also known as Jahmby Koikai, was buried there after her passing on June 3, 2024.

Speaking during the memorial service, Koikai’s father said the decision regarding her final resting place was a family’s choice. He indicated that they decided to bury her in the cemetery where her grandmother is buried.

Additionally, celebrated actor-comedian Benson Wanjau, better known as Mzee Ojwang, was also interred at Lang’ata Cemetery after succumbing to pneumonia.

Culture and modernity

Sociology professor Halimu Shauri of Pwani University described the debate over burial choices as a clash between culture and modernity.

“Death in Africa is deeply spiritual and tied to identity. The dead person is not seen as ‘gone’ in the African context.  That is why Africans prefer to bury their dead on their own land, often near their homes,” said Professor Shauri.

“However, we are in a transitional phase. We are neither fully African nor entirely modern,” he added, noting that secular acceptance of public cemeteries would take time.

Lang’ata Cemetery is one of the few burial sites where social status, class, and religion converge. It is a final resting place where Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Christians, traditionalists, and atheists lie side by side.

The cemetery is nearing capacity, having been declared full in 2005. Yet, currently, Lang’ata hosts about 40 burials per week. To cope with demand, the county government has begun utilising previously designated spaces such as parking areas and road reserves.

“Lang’ata has its own history, but it remains the best burial site, especially as we lack alternative land for cemeteries. There are key people buried there and you may find that they booked these spaces long time ago,” Nyakaba noted.

Other public cemeteries in Nairobi include Kariokor, South Lands, and the Forest Road Jewish Cemetery. Dutch billionaire Tob Cohen was buried at the latter.

Nyakaba clarified that community cemeteries are managed by the communities but once they are gazzetted, they are managed by the county government. Some of the community cemeteries include Ruai, Muthuini, Uthiru and Kangemi.

Despite the inevitability of death as an equaliser, financial inequalities persist even in burial choices. For a permanent grave at Lang’ata Cemetery, families pay sh30, 500 for adult citizens in Nairobi and Sh40, 000 for adult citizen outside Nairobi.

For children between one and 15 years within Nairobi, families pay Sh22,500 per grave and Sh28,500 for children within the same age bracket but are outside Nairobi. Infants below 11 months are charged Sh15,500 while those from outside Nairobi are charged Sh21,500 per grave.

For temporary graves, families pay Sh7,000, Sh4,000 and Sh2,000 for adults, children and infants respectively. For non-citizen adults, children and infants, the county government charge Sh50,000, Sh35,000 and Sh27,000 respectively.

To meet the demand for burial sites and the lack of space, Nyakaba explained that the temporary graves can be used to bury three bodies.

 “Temporary graves lasts for a period of 10 years. But still, we can bury several families there anytime. We can bury the first one at say, 10 feet, then, at 8 feet at 6 feet. And this is allowed in the law,” the public health officer explained.