A widow and her children are in shock and at a crossroad after a court ordered them to exhume and relocate six bodies of their dead relatives, buried in their homestead so as to pave way for the tarmacking of the Kibwezi-Mutomo-Kitui-Kabati-Migwani road.
The 89-year-old widow was ordered by Mutomo Senior Principal Magistrate Z.J.Nyakundi to relocate the six bodies from the Nzambani/Kyanika/513 parcel in Kyanika location in Chuluni, Kitui East constituency within a stipulated time.
One of the graveyards belongs to her husband, Mausu Ngulu who died in 1988. Other graves belong to the grandmother’s children, nieces, and nephews.
The court further ordered the Officer Commanding Chuluni Police Station (OCS) and the Nzambani Sub-county public health officer to supervise the exhumation exercise scheduled to be done on Friday.
Speaking to The Standard, the widow lamented at how the exhuming of the bodies would bring back memories when she lost her husband some 31 years ago.
She added the most disturbing aspect was that the court did not address the issue of compensation or compel the Sinohydro Corporation Ltd, the Chinese company constructing the 172km road, to assist in the relocation of the graves.
“The Chinese have approached us with their African workmates and told us if we don’t exhume the bodies within the specified time, they will bring their excavators and remove the human skeletons and dump them in the bush. Then I ask myself, do these people value the dead?” an emotional and sobbing Nduku complained.
At least 38 bodies, including Nduku’s family members, will be exhumed between Chuluni market and Kitui town to allow the road to pass.
According to the widow, the family cannot afford to build six new graves and she had appealed to her family members to think of preparing only two graves for her late husband and the other for the other five members. She also complained that the upgrading of the dilapidated road which is expected to bring fortune to Kitui and Makueni residents has torn apart their hearts.
Last week, a team of Kenya National Highways Authority KeNHA and a security team, led by Kitui county commissioner Jackson ole Chuta conducted an inspection tour of the road so as to conceptualize themselves with the issue.
Chuta affirmed that several families had initially opposed the road passing through their piece of land especially where they have buried their relatives.
“The government will assist the affected families in having their departed relatives buried elsewhere away from the road reserve,” Chuta promised.
The project was launched on December 6, 2016, in Mutomo market, Kitui South by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto.
The road once completed would open a frontier for development in Kitui County, boost trade and serve as a major artery to the three lower Eastern region counties.
According to the KeNHA’s Chairman Erastus Mwongera, the highway will act as a link in the long-term goal of developing the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport (LAPPSSET) Corridor.
