Lang'ata Cemetery to get 56 additional acres in new expansion plan as City Hall partners with KFS

Lang'ata Cemetery is set to undergo an expansion to add more space for burials, 24 years after being declared full.

This is after the Cabinet of the Nairobi County Government on Tuesday resolved to initiate a plan to redevelop Lang'ata Cemetery into a serene memorial ground.

The initiative will see the Johnson Sakaja administration partner with the Kenya Forest Service to secure an additional allocation of 56 acres of land.

"This project will involve comprehensive landscaping and extensive renovations including fencing, change of signage, grading and gravelling of roads inside the cemetery, transforming it into a tranquil place of remembrance and peace," reads the cabinet dispatch.

By aligning with this broader vision for green spaces, City Hall aims to enhance the urban environment and provide residents with more recreational areas.

In addition, the County Government also committed to identifying and securing alternative land for future burials.

This ensures that the needs of the community are met with respect and sustainability, maintaining dignity in the management of burial sites.

Nairobi has eight other cemeteries, but Lang'ata is the most preferred to many and bodies continue to arrive at the facility every day for burial.

Grave charges

For a permanent grave at the cemetery, charges are Sh30,500 for adult Kenyans in Nairobi, Sh15,500 for infants and Sh22,500 for children between 1 and 15 years.

For non-citizens to have permanent graves at Lang'ata, the families will be required to pay Sh50,000 for adults, Sh35,000 for children and Sh27,500 for infants.

With families who prefer to have temporary graves for their loved ones, City Hall has maintained its charges at Sh7,000 for adults, Sh4,000 for children and Sh2,000 for infants.

A view of a section of Nairobi's Lang'ata Cemetery. (Photo: Jill Craig/VOA)

In 2021, the defunct Nairobi Metropolitan Services and the Kenya Forest Service were negotiating on acquiring new cemetery land next to Lang'ata.

Authorities then were considering shifting the public graveyard to Kangundo.

Lang'ata's 100 acres have been full for 20 years and for years, City Hall has been seeking an alternative burial site.

Despite negotiations, former NMS director general Mohammed Badi disclosed the county has 10 acres on Kangundo Road that could be an alternative.

In 2009, City Hall lost millions of shillings after the then City Council of Nairobi paid Sh283 million for 48.5 acres in Mavoko, Machakos county.

The land was valued at Sh24 million. Former Local Government PS Sammy Kirui and the late City Council of Nairobi Clerk John Gakuo were among officials jailed for three years for their role in the cemetery land scandal.

Kirui was later acquitted, while Gakuo died in prison while waiting to be freed on bond.

In the 2016-17 budget, the county had expressed an interest in acquiring cemetery land in Kajiado, but that turned out to be a costly venture.

In March 2017, the county had planned to petition Parliament to allow its use as a graveyard in the 67-acre forest near the filled-up Lang'ata Cemetery.

This was after the Kenya Forest Service rejected its request to swap the filled-up cemetery with the forest.

KFS had said the government allocated the old Nairobi City Council 50 acres in the 1990s to expand the cemetery. It had asked City Hall to account for the land.

However, City Hall carried out investigations and there are no records to show that the national government gave City Hall 50 acres.