Burial arrangements for a 13-year-old girl mauled by a lioness 10 days ago in Kajiado have been marred by a controversy.
There has been a push and pull between the mother and an estranged biological father over where she should be buried.
Elizabeth Mawia, mother to the deceased, maintains that her daughter should be buried at their rural home in Kakeyani village, Kitui South sub-county, while the estranged father says she should be buried in Nandi County.
Speaking to the Standard outside her one-bedroom room on Tuesday, a dejected single mother said her former boyfriend has been interfering with burial plans slated for Thursday.
In possession of her late daughter’s birth certificate and other relevant documents, Mawia said that though they never got married to his daughter’s biological father nor cohabited with him as a husband and wife, the man has been pushing to bury the girl.
”I have brought up all my three children single handedly, when I got pregnancy, this man left me in the cold and was nowhere to be seen, he is now trying to arm twist me so that he can be a beneficiary to the compensation paid by the government following the death of my daughter,” said a grieved mother.
Peace Mwende, a grade seven learner at Oloosirikon Primary school, was mauled by a lioness in a private ranch servant’s quarter in Tuala, Emakoko Sub location, where she had visited her father.
The father works in the expansive ranch bordering Nairobi National Park.
However, the man, only known as Ken, speaking on the phone, said funeral plans were yet to be completed without further diverging information.
”I will not discus this matter with you through a phone call, you can look for me later, I am very busy with the burial preparations,” said Ken.
Mawia, with her other three kids from another relationship, survives with the help of well-wishers.
He accused the former boyfriend of sending her emissaries and veiled threats.
”I was notified about my daughter’s demise hours after the body had been taken to a mortuary, despite me living less than 10 kilometres from the ranch, what was the hurry for?” said the mother.
The mother now wants the authorities to intervene and assist her accord the late daughter a decent send off.
Peter Katumbi, the uncle to the late, said the man was not known by the family and he had not been supporting the child.
”In our culture, no man is recognised as a husband before he pays the dowry. This particular man has never even introduced himself to our family; we don’t know him at all,” said Katumbi.
A letter dated April 28, 2025, by Oloosirikon Chief Jason Tipatet recognised the mother as the girl’s next of kin.
The two warring parties had been summoned by Tipatet to iron out the differences before family members early in the week.
By Peterson Githaiga
