The Nairobi City County has revealed intentions to handle the disposal of 193 unidentified bodies located at both the City Mortuary and Mama Lucy Hospital. According to an official notice circulated on Sunday, the City Morgue houses 169 unclaimed bodies, while Mama Lucy Hospital has 24.

The county, in adherence to the Public Health Act Cap 242, [Subsidiary; Public Health (PUBLIC MORTUARIES) rules,1991] (2), is calling upon the public to step forward within a week to identify and claim the bodies mentioned below.

In the absence of claims by the deceased persons' relatives within this period, City Hall has confirmed its plans to seek authorization for the bodies' disposal.

The reported causes of death for the individuals listed in the notice range from suicide, electrocution, drowning, shooting, murder, and natural causes, to sudden incidents.

The majority of the bodies have been designated as originating from unknown counties. If authorized, the move to dispose of these bodies will elevate the disposal statistics to over 500 in the year 2023.

On February 10, the county proceeded to dispose of 250 bodies following a court order. These bodies, which had not been claimed, were preserved at the City Mortuary, Mama Lucy Kibaki Hospital Mortuary, and the Mbagathi Hospital Mortuary.

The court granted directives regarding health sector procedures for the disposal of the unclaimed bodies, in line with the Public Health Act, on February 9.

In a similar vein, back in August, the Kenyatta National Hospital issued a comparable announcement, revealing possession of 233 unclaimed bodies, and provided relatives of the deceased individuals seven days to come forward and claim them. Several counties, including Nyeri and Kisumu, have also released analogous notices.

Kisumu’s Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Teaching and Referral Hospital, in July, issued a 14-day notice for the disposal of 21 unclaimed bodies held in its morgue, citing an extended period of more than three months in which the bodies remained unclaimed.