NAIROBI — Kenyatta National Hospital has issued a one-week ultimatum for families to collect 124 unclaimed bodies lying at its mortuary, or risk losing them to state burial.
The hospital, in a public notice released on Monday, said the remains—some stored for months must be claimed within seven days, as required by law. If not, it will be forced to seek a court order to dispose of them.
“The bodies have overstayed at the KNH Farewell Home,” the hospital said in the statement. “Relatives, friends or any known associates are urged to come forward for identification and collection.”
Under Kenya’s Public Health Act (Cap 242), hospitals must notify the public before disposing of unclaimed bodies. After a short grace period usually seven to ten days the institution can apply to the courts for authorisation to bury them, typically in mass or pauper’s graves.
The move is both legal and practical. “Mortuary capacity is limited,” said a KNH official, who asked not to be named. “When unclaimed bodies accumulate, they pose logistical and health challenges.”
KNH did not specify how long some of the bodies have been held, but similar notices in recent years have involved remains stored for several months or longer. The hospital’s Farewell Home has been known to house hundreds of bodies at a time.
A full list of the unclaimed remains has been posted at the Farewell Home and online at www.knh.or.ke, with names and, where available, identification details.
The notice has stirred quiet grief and anxiety among some families in Nairobi, where many go missing or die far from home, leaving no one to claim them.
Esther Njoki, a social worker in the city’s informal settlements, said the lack of public awareness remains a barrier. “Many families don’t even know their loved one has died,” she said. “By the time they find out, it’s often too late.”
Though grim, these notices are not uncommon. Public hospitals in Kenya issue them several times a year, particularly in urban centres.
KNH has asked that anyone with missing relatives visit the hospital’s mortuary within the week, bringing identification and supporting documents.
For families who’ve been searching, it may offer painful closure. For the rest, silence may soon turn to burial.
