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Family seeks help to get body of kin detained over unpaid Sh5.5m

Eunice Nyambura. Her husband's body has been lying in the hospital's mortuary for over one year and the bill is now Sh5.5 million. [Kennedy Gachuhi, Standard]

After deducting Sh90,000 deposited before Mwai was admitted, the hospital wants the balance of Sh5,512,640 paid.

"We can raise that amount from what we make from our small farm and casual jobs. It is not even enough for our daily needs. Not even the local community has helped us. I just wish I could lay my husband to rest and get closure," she said.

"The situation is getting worse with the ever-piling mortuary charge. The hospital's management has said we have to find a way to raise the money, even if it is part of it before they can release the body. It has been a struggle."

As of July 15, 2022, the mortuary bill was Sh385,000.

The hospital's director Muriithi Kimani said they are aware of the family's struggles. "We know what the family is going through. We know they are struggling to raise the money but it is not our wish to detain the body," Kimani said.

"We need the money to keep the hospital running. We have told the family to raise part of the funds then we can negotiate on how they can pay the balance. Unfortunately, there has been no progress."

Nyambura's neighbour, James Mwangi, said the huge bill has left the family in a bad place.

"The family was not prepared for this. In over 30 years, Mwai never got ill to the point of being hospitalised," Mwangi said.

"But Covid-19 came and it happened as it did. It is a difficult moment for them, I pray for the family."

Nyambura says she is unable to move on since her husband's death.

"I have never known peace since he died. I wish we can have the opportunity to give him a decent burial," she said. "We can't afford to pay the bill and it disturbs me that his body is lying in a mortuary for over a year."