Funeral of a kind as street families bury nine

Burial of street children at Lang'ata Cemetery in Nairobi, on January 29, 2026. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]

It was a send-off ceremony of its kind. None of the mourners dressed in black, well-pressed suits or dresses as would have been in a "normal" funeral.

Some, mostly young men, arrived in vests and shorts with others visibly unkempt.

This was the scene on Friday as street families in Nairobi arrived to collect bodies of their friends who died between November 2025 and January 2026 for burial at the Lang'ata Cemetery.

Outside the Nairobi Funeral Home (formerly City Mortuary), eight light-brown caskets were laid. Another one, the smallest one for a 3-month-old baby, stood out; it was painted in black.

Of the nine bodies buried, six were at the mortuary while the others were at the Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital.

"We were supposed to bury 15 street children today but six bodies are still waiting for postmortem exercise," said Peter Wanjiru, the families coordinator. 

According to Wanjiru, the majority of the street children die of pneumonia and malnutrition, while others are attacked by criminals at night. 

At the cemetery, there was no funeral service, dirges or photo sessions; prayers led by David Maina of PEFA Lang'ata lasted about three minutes before the bodies were lowered into the shallow graves.

The exercise lasted for about an hour before the mourners assembled under a shade for a meal, where they recalled the last moments of their departed friends.

Burial of nine street children at Lang'ata Cemetery, on January 29, 2026. The other six street children will be buried after the postmortem is conducted next week. [Edward Kiplimo, Standard]

Mary Nyambura, a mother of two who lives on the streets along Juja Road, said one of the deceased Anthony Kibe died by suicide.

“I knew him for about three years. He used to collect plastic bottles along Juja Road and selling them to traders in Ngara,” she said.

“He was always on drugs and never talked much about his problems. In December we found him dead.”

According to records at the Nairobi Funeral Home, bookings made from the street families indicate there was one case of suicide in December and January.

Some who know the mother said the three-month-old baby died from pneumonia after being exposed to cold. "We don't have a permanent place to stay. When we are chased from town, we move to Ngara and Juja road areas; that out life," said Nyambura.  The event was organised by Kagure foundation catering for the caskets and other costs including transportation from Mama Lucy and Nairobi Funeral home to the Lang'ata cemetry.

“We decided to take the mass graves because it is expensive to buy the spaces at Lang’ata cemetery. Based on the autopsy results, most of them die due to malnutrition because they have nothing to eat,” said Agnes Kagure who runs the foundation

She added “Most of them are between 18 to 35 years old, these are the people who we should’ve taking to technical institutions for them to have an economic activity,”

Kagure said sometime back a 40-acre piece of land was allocated by the defunct Nairobi City Council to build rehabilitation centres for the street families but this was never implemented.

“It remains a mystery why such a project was abandoned, that is why we are asking Nairobi County to rehabilitate these street children since some of them are languishing on the streets during their productive years,” she added.