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Nairobi’s Lang’ata cemetery cannot take more bodies — it has been full for more than a decade.
And now, the The Nairobian has learnt that the county is now targeting graves of infants at the public section of Lang’ata Cemetery.
Dr Robert Ayisi, Chief Medical Officer at the Nairobi County said: “The cemetery is already full, and at the moment graves of infants are recycled to give space at the public area, but once the Mavoko deal is done it’s back to decency.”
The county is still in the process of acquiring land in Mavoko. John Muiya a grave digger told The Nairobian that most of the people seeking his services prefer temporary graves: “At the moment relatives have little option to ensure that their kin is buried decently, most of the remaining area is rocky thus bit tricky to dig the required six feet,” said Muiya adding that most people just deal with the circumstances at Lang’ata due to lack of viable alternatives.
In 2013 City Hall urged Nairobians to start cremating the dead as the cost and space was already too much to bear especially those who survive on less than three meals a day.
Lang’ata Cemetery is divided between a ‘permanent’ and ‘temporary’ section. Plots in the permanent section range from about Sh3,000 for a baby up Sh25,000 for adults.
In 2008 rates of burying a body in at Lang’ata Cemetery rose from Sh17,400 to Sh25,000 but the cost of cremation remained at Sh9,000 to encourage people to use this as an alternative to burial.
