Residents of Rukenya village in Gichugu, Kirinyaga County, on Saturday, April 6 witnessed a rare, bizarre if not shocking incident of a burial and a ‘wedding’ conducted at a go.

The residents gathered at Our Lady Consolata Rukenya Church to witness the weird ceremony that saw Martin Gitari, 60, wed his fiancée posthumous.

So what happened?

Martin Gitari, 60, died three weeks ago (Wednesday, March 16) after a short illness.

The unfortunate death came when the deceased was planning to wed his fiancée Beatrice Muthoni on Saturday, April 6 at Our Lady Consolata Rukenya Church.

The two families decided to give their last respect to Gitari by granting him his wish of wedding his lovely fiancée.

The deceased sister Pear Wambui says the decision to combine a wedding and a burial ceremony was to honour their brother.

“We are celebrating two occasions, burying him and at the same time celebrating his marriage. We had planned the wedding for three months,” Wambui said.

In the wedding-burial ceremony presided over by Kutus Catholic Parish Priest Sammy Njoroge, Beatrice ‘exchanged vows’ with the late at Kibugi Funeral Home. 

The grieving fiancée placed a ring on his deceased fiance’s finger before proceeding to the church for a more elaborate ceremony that included singing, dancing and cake cutting.

“This is my first such occasion since I became a priest, and we have done exactly what he wanted,” Father Njoroge remarked.

Speaking after the ‘wedding’, Beatrice — while heading to the burial site — said she is happy that she buried her husband with his wedding ring.

“My grandson Felix Gitari was the one who put the wedding ring on me to represent his grandfather as my husband. I’m happy and, at the same time, sad,” she said.