Families of victims of the Shakahola tragedy have been given 21 days to identify and collect their relatives’ remains before Kilifi County seeks court approval to bury those left unclaimed.
The county says it hopes to complete the process by December. 443 bodies and body parts are currently being held at a temporary morgue at Malindi Sub-County Hospital.
Peter Mwarogo, Kilifi’s executive for health services, said the Directorate of Criminal Investigations had completed its investigations on the remains and given the county the go-ahead to proceed with the interment.
“DCI have concluded investigations on the bodies. We have embalmed the 443 bodies which are at our base. They have given us the go-ahead for the interment of the bodies,”
Mwarogo spoke on Monday during a meeting with members of the joint Senate committees on Public Investments and Special Funds and Health at Malindi Sub-County Hospital.
The committees were led by Beth Syengo, vice-chairperson of the Committee on Public Investments and Special Funds, and Miriam Omar, chairperson of the Health Committee.
Only 14 remains identified through DNA
According to the county, only 14 of the 443 remains currently held at the hospital have been identified by relatives through DNA matching.
Mwarogo said some families had been traced but had not collected the remains because of the stigma surrounding the tragedy.
“Some people were able to trace their relatives, but they refused to come and take the body because of the stigma that is associated with this whole process,” he said.
He added that the DCI had retained records from the DNA matching and identification process for use in ongoing legal proceedings.
Senators demand wider notice to families
Kilifi County has published a Gazette notice giving relatives 21 days to come forward.
If the deadline expires without the remains being claimed, the county plans to approach the courts for authority to proceed with the burial.
Senators, however, urged the county to go beyond the Gazette notice and use wider public communication channels.
Elgeyo Marakwet Senator William Kisang questioned whether relying on a Gazette notice alone would reach families who may still be searching for their relatives.
“Who reads the Gazette notice? We should have put it in the media, on TV and everywhere because I know there are people who are still tracing their bodies,” Kisang said.
He also urged the county to use social media to reach more families.
“Nobody goes to the Gazette notice or even newspaper. People nowadays use social media,” he said.
Remains include bodies and body parts
The 443 remains include complete bodies as well as body parts recovered during the exhumation of shallow graves in Shakahola Forest.
Mwarogo said some of the remains were recovered in difficult conditions.
“Some are full bodies and others are body parts because by the time the exhumation was being done, some had been eaten by wild animals,” he said.
The remains are being kept in a container at the hospital. They were transferred there after investigators completed their work.
Mwarogo said the county wants the matter concluded by December, partly because the temporary storage facility is occupying space needed by the hospital.
New mortuary under construction
The Shakahola remains are being held separately from the hospital’s normal mortuary.
The hospital’s conventional mortuary has a capacity of 25 bodies and currently holds 22, according to Mwarogo.
To ease the pressure, the county is constructing a new mortuary at the back of the hospital. The facility is about 90 per cent complete.
Once completed, it is expected to allow the hospital to move its mortuary services away from the front of the facility.
The county has also identified land near Shakahola Forest where unclaimed remains are expected to be interred.
Mwarogo said the remains would be buried in a way that would allow them to be identified in the future.
“They have to be disposed of in a way that they can be identified even several years if somebody comes here,” he said.
The Shakahola tragedy came to national attention in April 2023 after mass graves were discovered in the forest. Hundreds of people were subsequently found to have died, with investigations focusing on followers of preacher Paul Mackenzie.
For families still searching for relatives, the 21-day notice provides another opportunity to come forward before the county seeks court approval to bury the remains.
Kilifi County says it intends to conclude the process by December.
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