The Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) has imposed Sh120,000 fees on relatives seeking the release of unclaimed bodies of their kin, erecting a fresh hurdle for poor families that wish to give their loved ones a decent send-off.
But that’s not all. The longer the families take to pick up the bodies for burial, the more the bill accumulates at a rate of Sh500 every 24 hours.
The NMS writes off expenditures it incurs on preservation and burial in mass graves of bodies that remain unclaimed.
Mr Ndambuki Mutua, the only surviving son in a family of five, says he is not in a position to foot the preservation fees, leave alone the expenses associated with according her sister a befitting send-off. As a result, he is contemplating letting his sister’s body be disposed of by the NMS, as per a public notice issued on March 4.
Ndambuki lives in a 10-by-10-metre shack built on an 80-by-30-metre parcel of land in Ng’alalya village, Ngiini, Machakos County.
“As you see, I have nothing to sell or offer to help me get her home,” he said in an interview. “I am not even in a position to foot the expenses of the burial.”
But he is not alone, as the Saturday Nation investigation found.
In Sega, Siaya County, the family of Micheal Oduor Okoth has also been told to clear a similar bill before they are allowed by Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital Mortuary to bury him. They are appealing to the government and local authorities to waive the charges and allow them to take home their dead kin to accord him a befitting burial.
Some of the Kenyans whose bodies have not been claimed for burial by their families.
Photo credit: Pool
His mother, Rose Akinyi, who is a widow, says she cannot raise that amount, plus the mounting daily charges.
According to Ms Akinyi, their efforts to have the amount waived by the hospital management have been unsuccessful.
She says as a community health worker, her income can barely support her family.
“We had expected the hospital to be lenient with us and waive the amount but that has not been the case,” Ms Akinyi says.
Okoth, her first born, went missing in Nairobi in August last year only for his lifeless body to be found a couple of months later at the Mama Lucy Mortuary.
“My wish is to have the remains of Micheal interred at the family land so that his spirit can be at peace,” Ms Akinyi added.
The families of Mr Kennedy Thiong’o and Mr Benson Gichiri told the Saturday Nation that the hospital bills for their departed kin have been waived by 50 per cent and 10 per cent respectively. Their unclaimed bodies are preserved at Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital Mortuary and were pending disposal upon approval by a magistrate.
Mr Ndambuki Mutua of Kathiani constituency, Machakos County, whose sister Damaris Kanini Mutua disapeared 30 years ago. Her body is among those listed as unclaimed by the government.
Photo credit: Francis Nderitu | Nation Media Group
The Saturday Nation reached out to the NMS Health Services Director, Dr Ouma Oluga, seeking a clarification on whether there is a written policy on how mortuary bills accrued by preserving the unclaimed bodies are handled. He was yet to answer our queries by the time of going to press.
The bodies that end up at the mortuaries and remain unclaimed for longer periods are mostly bodies of accident victims, mob justice, suicide, sudden death or those dumped after murder.
The growing number of unclaimed bodies in Nairobi is also blamed on police negligence and strained/severed family relations.
Most police officers attached to the morgues fail to follow up and compile conclusive reports of the deceased after admission of the bodies.
The police officers are supposed to take fingerprints reports, which are used to track identities and trace the next of kin and notify them.
According to Head of City Mortuary, David Wanjohi, failure by police to take fingerprints of the deceased to help in identification of the bodies has been at the heart of the increasing numbers.
“Some police officers just bring the bodies and the journey ends there. When the fingerprint reports are not brought back at the morgue, the bodies are kept as unclaimed since there is no way we can trace their next of kin,” said Mr Wanjohi in a previous interview.
At Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital Funeral Home, Mr Charles Wang’ombe has made a personal initiative to take fingerprints and countercheck with the National Registration Bureau. As a result, he says, the number of unclaimed bodies are few.
“We’ve reduced the number of unidentified individuals to close to zero,” Mr Wang’ombe told Saturday Nation.
The City Mortuary is currently planning to dispose of about 139 unclaimed bodies while Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital Funeral Home is planning to bury 32 bodies –of which seven are unidentified.
