Murder, suicide linked to deaths of over 200 people in Nairobi whose bodies remain unclaimed
City Hall has urged families with missing persons to visit the listed mortuaries to identify and collect the bodies before they are disposed of in line with public health regulations.
Various mortuaries in Nairobi are holding over 200 unclaimed bodies, with murder, suicide, and mob injustice being the leading causes of the deaths of the victims.
This revelation highlights a disturbing trend of violent and tragic deaths in the capital city.
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Other causes include accidents, natural causes, electrocution, drowning, and sudden death.
According to a public notice released by the Nairobi County government on Wednesday, 238 unclaimed bodies are lying in three city mortuaries.
The notice states that 121 bodies are at the Nairobi City Mortuary, 62 at the Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital mortuary, and 55 at the Mbagathi Hospital mortuary.
A breakdown of the data shows that 217 of the unclaimed bodies are male, while 21 are female.
At Nairobi City Mortuary, 111 are male and 10 are female. Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital mortuary has 58 males and four females, while Mbagathi Hospital mortuary holds 48 males and seven females.
In cases of mob injustice, victims are often individuals accused of crimes and subjected to extrajudicial killings by the public.
Such bodies frequently go unclaimed, possibly due to the victims being estranged from their families or lacking formal identification.
Similarly, victims of suicide and drowning are often left unclaimed when their identities remain unknown or when families are unaware of their fate.
Identify and collect bodies
City Hall has urged families with missing persons to visit the listed mortuaries to identify and collect the bodies before they are disposed of in line with public health regulations.
Failure to claim the bodies within the stipulated period will lead to their disposal by the county government.
"Pursuant to Public Health Act Cap 242([Subsidiary; Public health (Public Mortuaries) Rules, 1991] (2), interested members of the public are asked to identify and collect the below named bodies within 7 days, failure to which the Nairobi City County will seek authority for disposal," reads the notice.
Negligence by police officers and unwillingness from families have been cited as key reasons for the rising number of unclaimed bodies at City Mortuary.
Head of City Mortuary David Wanjohi previously revealed that some officers fail to take fingerprints of the deceased, making follow-ups nearly impossible.
Families have also contributed to the situation by abandoning their deceased relatives, leaving mortuary attendants to handle the bodies.
"There are people who never bother to claim the bodies of their relatives. Some families come and after identifying the bodies give us the go-ahead to dispose them of," Wanjohi said.
"Some families also give wrong phone numbers once they bring the bodies to the morgue, and when the morgue attendants reach out to them, they ignore the calls. With no option left, the bodies are retained in the morgue."
A report from the facility dated April 5, 2023, indicates that Nairobi's main public morgue has 142 cooling units, but only 33 are operational.
To improve efficiency, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja announced plans to install 63 additional cooling units. The facility also has 19 cold room doors, nine of which require replacement. So far, City Hall has replaced six.
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