Villager who dug own grave dies after waiting for 38 years
A Mathira man who dug his own grave 38 years ago finally died on Friday.
Stanley Muriuki Njuki, 81, also left a raft of wishes. He wanted to be buried in the shortest time possible, insisting that his body should never end up in a mortuary. Burial took place on Saturday.
Njuki told his family to use the least amount for his funeral and that the grave should not be filled with soil.
He grabbed media attention when he dug the grave near his house at Karogoto Village, about 10 kilometres from Karatina Town in 1979.
Mr Charles Kahariri told Nation after the burial that the family granted his father his wishes.
“We all must die. Some people wish to die peacefully just like my father did,” Mr Kahariri said.
“He sometimes told me that death was taking long to strike.”
Mr Kahariri, who was in Standard One when his father dug the grave, said the body was preserved using charcoal, sawdust and water, costing the family about Sh300.
He added that his father never went to hospital when sick, preferring herbs instead.
Family members threw grains of sand in the grave before covering it with a concrete slab.
