President Uhuru Kenyatta's cousin, Captain (Rtd) Kung'u Muigai has publicly outlined how he wants to be celebrated and buried at the family's Ichaweri farm in Gatundu South.
Kungu, who is also the patron of the Kikuyu Council of Elder listed his odd wishes which included being buried in a simple casket made by a coffin maker in Kiambu. The former Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) officer added that purchasing a casket of more than Ksh 100,000 was just but a waste of money.
"Why spend Ksh 100,000 and he died due to lack of medication of a lesser amount. If I die in the morning, I would wish to be buried by 2 pm like the Muslims. Politics should not be allowed to take centre stage.
He lamented that politicians always drag funerals to popularise their agenda and raise money for their own personal gratification.
Kungu claimed that the burial preparations which drag for weeks and months were also a waste of time.
"I am totally against cremation for I fear fire and my body should not be preserved in a cold room either. My burial should also not be delayed to allow those who are abroad to return home," Kungu said at an interview in March 2021.
Even his own children, he said, who are in foreign nations should only return home to lay wreaths on his graveyard if they miss out on his funeral.
President Uhuru's cousin added that burials should be conducted as fast as possible to save money and allow the family to mourn.
The Gikuyu elder also urged his compatriots to observe all community traditions as outlined by their forefathers, rather than adopt western burial rites.
He reminded that it was and still is taboo for the Gikuyu to touch the dead.
"We used to take those who were nearly dying far away from our homes, either in a forest or a hillside and then tie them to a bell or a charm.
"If it kept ringing we knew they were pulling. If not, we knew they were already dead," Kungu said.
