Nairobi and Nakuru counties to dispose unclaimed bodies

A dead body lying in a mortuary. [Image Courtesy]

Nairobi County government has issued a seven-day notice for the collection of ninety-seven unclaimed bodies lying at the Mbagathi District Hospital mortuary.

In a notice published by a local daily, the county authority will seek a writ after seven days to dispose the bodies.

"Members of the public are asked to identify and collect the below-named bodies within seven days, failure to which the county government of Nairobi will seek judicial authority for their disposal," read the notice.

One of the ninety-seven unclaimed bodies is a 70-year-old man identified as Paul Muchai who has been lying at the mortuary since April 3, 2017.

Subsequently, Nakuru County Health Department has moved to court seeking to bury twenty unclaimed bodies that have been lying at the Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital Mortuary for three months.

According to the Public Health Chief Officer Samuel King'ori, search for relatives to collect the bodies has been fruitless yet the preservation cost is accumulating.

The general hospital hospital mortuary can only hold fifty bodies while the Nakuru County mortuary has a capacity for twenty-five.

Dr. King'ori said the bodies will be interred in a mass grave at the Nakuru South Cemetery once the court order is obtained.