Naivasha Sub-County Hospital mortuary.
Mystery surrounds 18 unidentified male bodies that have remained unclaimed at the Naivasha Sub-County Hospital mortuary for more than six months now.
Attendants at the mortuary told the Nation that the bodies were taken to the facility between June and October 2024.
The 18 bodies are among 27 that the hospital authorities are planning to bury in a mass grave if they remain unclaimed in the next 21 days.
However, revelations that most of the bodies were taken to the mortuary by the police between May and October last year, at the height of youth-led anti-government protests, have raised concerns over the possible causes of death.
Human rights activists have sounded an alarm, claiming that some of the bodies could be those of Kenyans who went missing during the protests.
“We demand DNA tests to establish the identities of the bodies. The bodies should not be buried in a mass grave before families whose kin are still missing are given time to establish if the bodies belong to them,” Nakuru Human Rights Network Director David Kuria said. “The truth must be known before they are buried in a mass grave as unknown and unclaimed bodies.”
Mr Jesse Karanja of People’s Power Watch also called on authorities to suspend the planned mass burial until DNA tests are conducted to establish the identities of the bodies.
Mortuary attendants at the Naivasha Sub-County Hospital on December 12, 2024.
“We demand the immediate suspension of the planned burial of the bodies in a mass grave. Families, whose loved ones are missing, should be given an opportunity, through DNA tests, to find out if the bodies belong to them,” he said. “That most of the bodies of the unknown individuals are male and were taken to the facility by the police raises many questions. We want the Inspector-General of Police and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to intervene.”
But Naivasha Sub-County Hospital Medical Superintendent Bernard Warui, in an interview with the Nation on Sunday, disputed that the bodies could be those of victims of the Gen Z protests.
“It is not true that some of the bodies belong to victims of the Gen Z protests. That is not true. Some were brought to the hospital mortuary by the police, others died in the hospital and have never been claimed by their families,” he said.
“Members of the public, whose kin have been missing, are advised to visit the hospital to establish if the bodies belong to them. The list shows the dates the bodies were received and areas where they were picked from or found,” added Dr Warui.
The hospital administration has asked families to visit the facility within three weeks before the bodies are buried.
“The hospital has issued a 21-day notice for the bodies to be identified and claimed by family members. Failure to do so will necessitate the hospital to proceed with mass burial at the Naivasha Public Cemetery (Longonot), after fulfilling all legal requirements,” reads the notice issued last week and signed by Mr Victor Keraa, a public health officer in Naivasha.
According to the notice, the bodies, most of which have decomposed, have remained uncollected for several months.
Records seen by the Nation indicate that most of the bodies were taken to the mortuary by police officers from Naivasha and Mai Mahiu on July 2, June 28, June 20, June 13 and June 7, 2024.
Interestingly, some of the unknown bodies were marked as “casualties” while being booked at the mortuary.
Refurbished inpatient wing at the Naivasha Sub-County Hospital.
The other unclaimed bodies held at the hospital mortuary were taken there between February 2023 and June 2024, including those of Mary Ann Nyambura, Rose Riziki Kariuki, John Njoroge, Ruth Mula, Francis Mungai, Moran Ledara, Erusi Napotikan Alimu, Stephen Luwei and Alex Kubai.
Between April and June last year, Parliament’s decision to pass the Finance Bill 2024 sparked mass protests that turned deadly.
Initially emerging as an outcry on social media, it grew into physical protests on June 18, 2024, led largely by the youth. The Gen Z, would, in the subsequent months, maintain pressure on the government.
They built a vibrant movement decrying Kenya’s lack of economic opportunities, rising cost of living and unchecked corruption by the political elite.
Despite police killings and brutality, the protesters pressed on, culminating in the dissolution of the Cabinet by President William Ruto.
