Nakuru: Nakuru County has issued a public notice with a 21-day deadline to dispose of 59 unclaimed bodies that have been in the county’s public morgues for the past three months. These bodies are stored at the County Referral and Teaching Hospital Mortuary and the Annex PGH Public Mortuary, causing service delivery issues due to lack of space.
According to Kenya News Agency, the notice was issued by County Public Health Officers Beatrice Oyiengo and Rachael Mwangi. They released a list of the unclaimed bodies, detailing the place of death, date, and cause of death. The public is urged to identify and collect the bodies within the stipulated time frame, failing which the county will seek legal authority for their disposal. The list indicates that while some bodies had been identified at the time of collection, others remain unidentified due to lack of documentation.
The statement further categorizes the causes of death, which include road accidents, murder, drowning, shooting, natural causes, sudden death, abortion, and mob justice. The officers emphasized the necessity of a court order for the disposal of the corpses, in compliance with the Public Health Act Cap 242 [Subsidiary; public health (public mortuaries) rules, 1991].
Ms. Oyiengo noted the challenges in tracing the next of kin, leading to inconveniences in service delivery. She announced that without a claim, the bodies would be disposed of at Nakuru South Cemetery after the notice period expires.
The legal framework allows public mortuaries to dispose of unclaimed bodies after giving a 14-day public notice, provided they have court orders. This ensures mortuaries are not overstretched and adhere to the Public Health Act, which mandates that bodies should not remain unclaimed for more than ten days without incurring penalties.
The high number of unclaimed bodies, estimated at 200 to 300 each year in Nakuru County, is attributed to various factors such as financial constraints, cultural beliefs, and lack of burial land. Medical schools are allowed to use unclaimed bodies for educational purposes under the Anatomy Act Cap 249, with proper authorization from the Ministry of Health.
Counselling psychologist Ochieng Okuku highlights that unclaimed bodies often belong to individuals who died unnatural deaths and whose families are unaware of their demise. The police, tasked with identifying fingerprints, face difficulties in tracking families for such cases.
Investigation of deaths due to unnatural causes is governed by the National Coroners’ Service Act, 2017, although its implementation has been delayed due to administrative issues. This act intends to transfer the responsibility of investigating unnatural deaths from the police to an independent coroner-general, appointed by the cabinet secretary for justice.