Environmental Health and Sanitation Bill: The proposed law threatening peaceful rest of the dead
A cemetery at Msambweni village in Voi, Taita Taveta County.
Bodies in cemeteries will be exhumed after a period of six months to pave way for public works, if MPs pass a Bill currently before Parliament.
However, the Environmental Health and Sanitation Bill, 2023, sponsored by Mukurweni MP John Kaguchia, says a notice shall be given to the next of kin of the buried person.
"It shall be lawful for the relevant County Executive Committee, whenever it deems it expedient for the execution of public works or any other public purpose, to remove any body or the remains of any body from any grave whether in an authorised cemetery or elsewhere," reads the Bill.
However, before any such body or remains are exhumed, the proposed law states that a notice shall be posted in the cemetery and the same shall also be sent to the next of kin of the buried person, if their address can be traced.
"Where an order is made directing the removal from any of the aforesaid graves other than in an authorised cemetery, due notice of such order shall, so far as is practicable, be given to the legal representative or next of kin of the buried person before the work of removal is undertaken," the Bill says.
The Bill states that it will be the duty of the county government to make arrangements for the reburial in an approved cemetery of any exhumed body.
According to the proposed law, it will be an offense for the owner or occupier of any premises to keep a dead body in any room in which any person lives, sleeps or works or in which food is prepared or eaten.
"Where a person is known or suspected to have died of an infectious disease, it will be an offence to remove the body except to a mortuary or a licensed place or establishment for the purpose of immediate burial or cremation," the bill reads.
"A person who contravenes the subsection shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding Sh50,000 or to imprisonment for a term not less than one month or to both," the Bill states.
The proposed legislation mandates the county government to provide and maintain places for the reception of bodies for examination, viewing, identification or any other lawful purpose before removal for burial or cremation.
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"No person shall establish, operate or maintain any premises as a funeral home or otherwise keep the body of any person for the purpose of conducting business on any premises without a license issued by the department," the Bill states.
The Bill seeks to implement the provision of the Constitution that requires the State to take necessary legislative, policy and other measures, including the setting of standards, to achieve the progressive realisation of the rights guaranteed under the Bill of Rights, which include the right to a clean and healthy environment.
The main objective of the Bill is to prevent and reduce health risks associated with environmental hazards and to address the social and economic costs of preventable diseases associated with poor sanitation and environmental pollution.
