'Three bodies in one bag': DCI pitches camp at Kericho Cemetery ahead of exhumation
Increased police activity at the Makaburini cemetery in Kericho town, where the 14 bodies were buried in a mass grave, was witnessed on Tuesday morning.
In a clear indication, the bodies were likely to be exhumed as per the court orders secured by the Homicide department, another layer of security cordon was laid to keep off members of the public.
Mr Martin Nyuguto, the Director of the Homicide Division at the DCI, was coordinating the mapping of the scene.
Curious onlookers watched from almost 100 meters from the site where the bodies were secretly buried last Friday, in what has caused an uproar in the region.
As early as 6 am, the officers were dispatched to the cemetery that has become the centre of interest to the residents.
Armed police officers in both uniform and civilian have camped at the scene since Saturday, with the area cordoned off from intruders as the Homicide Department of the Directorate of Criminal Investigation (DCI) waits to exhume the bodies.
A team of homicide detectives are at the Makaburini graves in Kericho County, where a mass grave has been discovered. The exhumation exercise is about to start.
The DCI got exhumation orders on Monday after a failed attempt on Sunday on public interest, with the magistrates reportedly having been out of the station. Digging of the fresh grave began at 11:40 am.
“All indications are that the bodies will be exhumed this morning to enable the pathologists to extract DNA samples to aid in identifying the bodies before the next course of action is given," A senior police officer said on March 24 in Kericho.
An affidavit sworn in a Kericho court by investigators has exposed a trail of unanswered questions, conflicting accounts, two separate but distinctly different court orders alleged to have been issued by one magistrate in a single application – further deepening the controversy- with the matter now under investigation by the DCI.
It has also been revealed by the DCI that there was no burial permit issued by the authorities for the bodies to be interred at the cemetery, with the Nyamira county government, which has owned up to releasing the bodies for burial, stating that it does not have land for it.
Peter Kamau, an investigating officer, averred in court documents that he was investigating the authenticity of the court orders allowing disposal of the bodies, with the possibility that the process of disposing of the bodies was fraudulent.
A homicide detective marks a mass grave in Makaburini public cemetery in Kericho County on March 24, 2026 before the start of the exhumation exercise of the 14 bodies.
A public health officer and a cemetery caretaker have been thrust into the centre of the controversy with their arraignment in court, which has ordered that they be detained in custody for 30 days.
Two suspects, David Araka Makori and Richard Towett, were arraigned before the Kericho Principal Magistrate on Monday, but did not take a plea as the case is still under investigation.
Araka, who is a Public Health Officer in Nyamira County, and Towett, alias Ezekiel, who is the caretaker of the cemetery, will remain in police custody for 30 days ahead of their formal arraignment and plea taking before the court.
The DCI revealed it was undertaking investigations relating to the offence of burial of deceased persons without a burial permit, contrary to sections 27 of the Births and Deaths Registration Act, CAP 49, Conspiracy to defeat justice, murder and other charges.
It follows a report at the Kericho police station on Saturday through Occurrence Book (OB) number 37/21/03/2026, with the investigations being conducted by the DCI’s Homicide team.
“The government pathologist to exhume the bodies to allegedly interred on 20th March, 2026 at Makaburini cemetery within Kericho East sub county for the purposes of conducting a postmortem and extraction of sample for DNA and Toxicology to ascertain the cause death and forensics identification of the deceased,” The court ordered.
Homicide detectives are at the Makaburini graves in Kericho County, where a mass grave has been discovered. They are set to begin the exhumation process on March 24, 2026.
The Kericho East Sub-County Police Commander and the Officer Commanding Station (OCS) have been directed to provide security during the exhumation exercise.
“The exhumed bodies be examined and extraction of specimens for DNA and Toxicology samples to be done at the Kericho County Referral Hospital mortuary or any other place as will be advised by the government pathologist,” the court directed.
The Public Health Officer, Kericho county has been directed to provide public health safety services during the exhumation.
Disposal of unclaimed bodies at a cemetery usually does not generate much public interest due to the straightforward legal process involved, but the secrecy surrounding this burial has led to a full-blown controversy.
The youths who took part in digging the graves and burying the bodies said they were earlier told by those who brought them in a government vehicle that only five bodies would be buried at the grave.
“Initially, they told us that the bodies to be buried in the grave would be five, but they brought in more bodies. We did not ask for increased facilitation as it was government officers we were dealing with,” they said.
Another one added, “When I opened one of the body bags, I found that there were three bodies in it with mutilated parts.”
It was also claimed that the bodies were fresh and not decomposing as they would be if they had remained in the mortuary for a long period.
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