A bitter family dispute over the burial of 36-year-old Joab Otieno has taken a dramatic legal turn after the Ndhiwa Magistrate’s Court ordered that his body be exhumed from a gravesite in Kakello Village, near Rata Centre in Seme, Kisumu County.

In a ruling delivered by Principal Magistrate Phylis Lusiah Shinyada, the court directed that the remains be removed immediately under the supervision of officers from Kombewa Police Station and the chief of Kakello Sub-location.

The court further ordered that Otieno’s body be transferred to the mortuary at Ndhiwa Sub-County Hospital in Homa Bay County, where it will be preserved pending the hearing and determination of the burial dispute.

Security officers were instructed to ensure the exhumation is carried out without obstruction or disturbance, with the costs of the exercise to be met by the party that filed the case.

The dispute arose after members of Otieno’s family protested the burial, claiming it was conducted without their knowledge or consent.

His father, Joseph Nyadiero Ugutu, told the court that his son had travelled to Kisumu in search of work. While there, he reportedly fell ill, recovered, and later died under circumstances the family says remain unclear.

Ugutu said efforts to return the body home for burial were frustrated after the remains were allegedly moved from a known location to another facility without the family’s knowledge.

Relatives said they were shocked to later learn that Joab had already been buried. Residents indicated that attempts to recover the body before the burial were unsuccessful.

Court documents show that the deceased’s mother, Monica Auma, a resident of Koogo Komolo Village in South Kanyamwa Location, filed the suit against Jennifer Nundu.

She accuses Nundu of unlawfully collecting the body from Kombewa Mortuary and arranging the burial without involving the immediate family.

Through her lawyer, Albert Ongoso, the family sought court orders to halt the burial and have the remains released for interment at his ancestral home.

The application, filed on April 19, 2026, argued that the burial was rushed in an attempt to pre-empt legal action.

However, by the time the matter came before the court, the body had already been buried on Monday at Kakello Village.

In granting the exhumation order, the magistrate also raised concerns over how the remains were released and buried without what the family described as proper consent and authorisation.

The court further barred the defendant and her relatives from interfering with the exhumation, transfer, or storage of the body.

Before his death, Joab Otieno worked in the construction sector in Kisumu. Court records indicate that he had been admitted to Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital, where he died on April 14.

The case will continue as the court determines who has the legal right to bury him and under what arrangements.