The recent story of Sabenzia Kilong who was buried by Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) at an undisclosed mass grave without the family’s consent has raised more questions.
Kilong’s family were shocked to discover that their relative was buried at the Lang’ata Cemetery, after their frantic search for months.
Is it possible that there are families who are burning resourcing looking for their missing loved ones in the mortuaries – and hospitals – prisons – when actually their spirits are counting days at Lang’ata Cemetery?
Thousands of Kenyans have gone missing never to be seen – again.
Take the case of Meshack Saleh who was a mechanic in Nairobi back in the 80s and 90s. The last time he was seen alive was in 1997. He has never been seen.
“I combed every mortuary in Nairobi and the surrounding town in search of my brother. I never found his body. It has been 27 years since we saw home,” his brother Dickens told Mwanahabari.co.ke.
“Our family keep on hoping that one day he will return home,” concludes Dickens.
Asked if he fears his brother may have died, Dickens said: “It’s possible. I don’t know. No one knows.”
There were rumors that Sale had been spotted in Zambia – that was in 1998 – but the rumours died down like cane fire.
In Homa Bay County – the family of Mzee Ojala are still waiting for him to return home. Mzee left the village in 1999 after being invited by his son who lived in Nairobi. Reports indicate that he arrived in Nairobi at dawn and even interacted with a security guard who would later tell the police that the old man indeed landed at the capital. That was the last time Mzee was seen alive. His body is yet to be found although there were reports that he may have been attacked and killed by thugs on that fateful dawn.
Buried as unclaimed bodies
It’s possible that some of these people may have died and ended up being buried as unclaimed bodies.
According to the law, if a body remains at the institution unclaimed for 21 days, the hospital is allowed to dispose of it off so long as they have sought orders from court and are given 14 days’ notice to allow the public to collect them.
In February 2020, Kiambu Chief Magistrate Patricia Gichohi issued an order allowing the Kiambu Level 5 hospital to dispose of 26 unclaimed bodies that had overstayed at the hospital mortuary.
The magistrate however cautioned that the bodies should only be disposed of after the expiry of the notice adding it would be traumatic for the hospital to bury someone whose relatives would show up later to claim the body.
In November 2020, the Nairobi Metropolitan Services (NMS) issued a notice published in local dailies giving the public seven days from November 17 to 24 to pick bodies of their dead relatives – who had not been claimed. There were a total of 188 unclaimed bodies.
This was the second time in 2020 that NMS had called for the collection of bodies. At least 119 unclaimed bodies were disposed of by the NMS between March 17-24, a clear indication that many people die without the knowledge of their kin who might be living in different parts of the country.