This archive report was first published on 25 November 2019.
On November 25, 2019, Ruth Shikuku filed an appeal at the High Court, protesting a decision by a lower court that allowed her former husband, Stanley Wafula, to bury their son, Edward Wanzetse.
Ms Shikuku argued that the lower court's decision was based on outdated customary laws, which she claimed did not apply in this case.
She alleged that Wafula was an absentee father who did nothing to support their son for 31 years, and that he had even tried to force her to terminate the pregnancy when she was expecting Wanzetse.
Wafula, a teacher at Siville Secondary School, had been granted the right to bury Wanzetse in their ancestral land in Namirama, Navakholo sub-county, after he applied to the magistrates' court on September 16.
However, Shikuku is seeking orders from the High Court to allow her to bury her son, citing her responsibility for his education and her desire to give him a proper burial in their ancestral land.
