Grave concern as millions set aside for cemetery land lie idle

A section of Nakuru North cemetery in Nakuru. [Kipsang Joseph/Standard]

There is a looming problem in Nakuru County over what to do with dead bodies. The ethnic clashes experienced in parts of the Rift Valley in the 1990s and the infamous 2007-2008 post-election violence, saw mass movement of people from small villages and urban centres – that were considered unsafe to Nakuru town - piling pressure on social amenities.  

Besides two cemeteries in the town there’s the Maili-Kumi graveyard, Maili Sita graveyard, Gilgil cemetery, Longonot graveyard, Pieve graveyard in Njoro and one in Olenguruone.

Graveyards closed

But most of them have run out of space. At the Nakuru North Cemetery in town, the little remaining space has been booked and paid for.

“The county government declared a number of public graveyards closed. We have ceased providing a burial service in Molo, Nakuru North, Naivasha, Njoro and Bahati cemeteries,” says County Public Health officer Samuel King’ori.

Since 2013 it has been challenging for the county government to get land for public cemeteries. In the 2014/2015 financial year, Sh84 million was set aside for purchase of a 20-acre alternative parcel of land for public cemetery.

That was beefed up by another Sh30 million allocation in the 2015/2016 financial year, Sh10 million the following year and a similar figure allocated for 2018-19. Governor Lee Kinyanjui says his administration is aware of the challenge and is looking for alternative land for public cemeteries.

“We have identified some land in Mau Mahiu where we intend to have 20 acres for a public cemetery. We have allocated some Sh10 million in the 2018/2019 budget for that,” he said.

This was after a survey carried out by the Department of Health indicated that half the cemeteries could run out of space within the next 20 years.

But getting land has been almost impossible because of various reasons not limited to legal requirements and cultural beliefs among various communities residing in the region.

According to King’ori, the law requires that certain criteria be followed to ensure safety of both the living and the dead.

“An environment impact assessment must be done in accordance to the Nema Act; soil texture must be approved and topography of the land must also be considered. You cannot have a graveyard on a hill or in a valley,” he says.

Land expert Joseph Thuo says soil must be assessed to establish whether it can allow for speedy body decomposition.

“The position of the water table beneath the ground also has to be appraised,” says Thuo. Taboos and cultural believes have also hampered efforts to get new graveyards.

According to officials, two previous attempts to acquire land in Rongai Sub-county and Naivasha town failed after residents objected to the move, saying a graveyard within their locality would lower value of their land.

“We had identified land near Kabarak in 2015 but residents objected to the move for fear of the dead,” said Health Chief Officer Samuel Mwaura.

Some bereaved families have had to conspire with county workers to bury their dead on pathways of the already filled up Nakuru North Cemetery.

“Last week, we managed to get space on the footpath within the graveyard to bury my father. We paid for it and the grave digger showed us this space,” Jane Macharia says as she points at a spot they buried their relative last weekend.

One solution is to recycle plots by removing remains from older graves, burying them deeper in the same grave and then reusing the space on top for a new body.

But Kingo’ri quickly dismisses this suggestion, saying it is against African culture and also a taboo in some communities.

Expressing deep concern over the scarcity of graveyards, Pastor James Maina, of Church of Christ in Manyani Estate says locals must consider other ways of disposing off bodies of their departed ones.

“We know there is some resistance to other alternatives like cremating the dead, but as a church we need to start this debate with the congregation,” says Maina.