Court refuses to stop Nairobi county from disposing of unclaimed bodies
Morgue. Courtesy photo
The High Court on Thursday declined to issue an order stopping the County Government of Nairobi from disposing off 120 unclaimed bodies lying at the Nairobi City Funeral Home, formerly City Mortuary.
This was after the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) moved to court seeking to stop the Nairobi City County government from disposing of 120 unclaimed bodies until their identities were ascertained.
The society said the county government published the notice of intention to dispose of the bodies in August, without giving people adequate time to identify the unclaimed bodies.
“Many families throughout Nairobi City and elsewhere in this country have been looking for their loved ones who have gone missing since the protests began,” it said.
The lawyers’ body claims the move is actuated by “sheer malice, ill-will with intent to conceal atrocities meted on the unclaimed bodies”.
In his ruling, Justice Lawrence Mugambi said the reasons given by LSK in seeking to suspend the notice issued by the county were not justified.
“An order by the conservator to suspend the notice or the proposed internment based on general allegations of missing persons is not particular and is not justified as the general public will be given the opportunity to visit the mortuary and identify the bodies before the mortuary can be decongested,” he said.
He backed the county's move, saying the purpose of the notice was to inform the public so that those with missing person cases could go to the mortuary for identification purposes.
LSK had claimed that many youths were shot dead and others were still missing since June 25, 2024, during the protests against the Finance Bill, 2024.
LSK chief executive officer Florence Muturi said many of the young protesters who died in Nairobi were taken to the Nairobi City Funeral Home.
She said many families have been looking for their loved ones who went missing since the protests began.
