The family of KCB senior manager Rosemary Koech buried her on Friday night, hours after a Nairobi court stopped the burial and ordered that her body remain at Lee Funeral Home.
The burial took place at 7.30pm in Chepseon village, Kipkelion East constituency, Kericho county.
The body had been transported from Nairobi on August 25 amid a dispute between Koech’s parents and her husband, Kevin Kimwatu.
Senior principal magistrate Agnes Mwangi of the Milimani Court had on Friday issued interim orders restraining the family, Lee Funeral Home and KCB from moving the body or conducting the burial without the consent of Kimwatu.
The orders were issued following a case filed by Kimwatu.
However, the family proceeded with the burial, with a heavy police presence reported at the entrance to the homestead as relatives conducted the final rites.
Clan chairman Samwel Keter, who is also a relative, said the family acted in accordance with Kalenjin cultural practices requiring a person who has died by suicide to be buried within a short period.
“What’s being circulated on social media is not true as they are just pushing an agenda. Our daughter died the way she did [by suicide], and in our culture, that means you are not supposed to stay unburied for more than three or four days,” he said.
Keter said the family also considered the postmortem examination, which he said meant the burial had to take place within two days.
“We did whatever we did because of our culture so that something like that (suicide) will not happen again," he said.
"Maybe that’s why people are saying whatever they are saying. We did that according to the Kalenjin culture, not just Kipkendek [the name of the clan] culture.”
Keter said night burials were also an old tradition among members of the Kipsigis community, explaining why the final ceremony was conducted late in the evening.
“Bodies used to be buried at night among members of the Kipsigis community; that is why, in the current generation, the final ceremony is done late in the evening. It is an old-age tradition,” he said.
He said where parents insist on burying a daughter who had been married off despite unresolved differences with her husband, the dowry paid for the marriage should be returned.
Keter said modern practices, including police investigations and postmortems, had complicated traditional arrangements that previously allowed funerals to be conducted promptly.
He said a funeral service could still be held after burial within the mourning period of the immediate family.
On Saturday, relatives and friends gathered at the family homestead to offer condolences.
Koech, 40, was head of data protection in KCB’s risk division. She died on August 21 after taking her own life at a house she lived in with her children in Ngong, Kajiado county.
A postmortem confirmed she died by suicide.
Koech had been experiencing marital difficulties before her death. Her family has alleged that she and Kimwatu had been involved in prolonged domestic and financial disagreements.
The couple had been married for more than 20 years and had four children. They initially lived together in Memusi, Matasia, within the ancestral compound of Kimwatu’s parents.
Meanwhile, KCB clarified who was listed as Koech’s next of kin in its employment records.
In a letter dated August 25 and addressed to Lee Funeral Home, the bank named Judy Koech-Oyamo, Koech’s sister, and her son, Charles Migwe Kimwatu.
The letter, signed by KCB head of shared services, risk, compliance and governance Robley Ngoje, confirmed that Koech was an employee of KCB Bank Kenya until her death.
The bank said the two could liaise with the funeral home over the release, collection and burial arrangements.
However, KCB clarified that being listed as next of kin did not automatically make them legal representatives of Koech’s estate or entitle them to her property and benefits.
The bank said matters relating to terminal dues, insurance, pension and other assets would require appropriate legal documentation, including letters of administration or a grant of probate.
