City mortuary receives 247 bodies, 87 above average, in month of protests
Nairobi Funeral Home (formerly City Mortuary) received a staggering 247 bodies in a month at the height of the youth anti-tax demonstrations, a report from the facility has revealed.
According to Nairobi Public Health Chief Officer Tom Nyakaba, the mortuary receives on average around 160 bodies a month.
The latest development raises further concerns about the exact number of people who lost their lives during the month-long demonstration, with exact figures not yet known.
According to the data, recorded between June 25 and July 26 and based on a police register, the morgue had 115 bodies registered as ‘unknown’.
Of these, 60 are still in the mortuary as unidentified or unclaimed, with the relatives or next of kin unaware of their presence in the facility.
The other 55 bodies were registered as unknown but were later identified by relatives or next of kin, according to the report.
On the other hand, 102 bodies were admitted with full names and relatives or next of kin were aware of them.
The remainder were body parts admitted in connection with the Kware incident, 17 of which are still unidentified and awaiting DNA identification.
This figure is rounded off by 13 foetuses or perinatal corpses admitted as unidentified, according to data compiled by government pathologist Dr Sylvester Maingi.
The alarming figures coincide with the period when the youth, especially Gen Z, took to the streets to oppose tax hikes proposed by President William Ruto’s administration.
The demonstrations, which began in mid-June, resulted in at least 60 deaths, according to a report by the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR).
The commission’s report said another 66 people were still missing, bringing the total number of people arrested to 1,376.
According to the report, protests took place in at least 23 counties, with 17 counties reporting casualties, and Nairobi bearing the brunt with at least 21 deaths.
According to KNCHR and the Defenders’ Coalition, at least 29 people died in connection with the protests in other counties, raising questions about the number of bodies received at the Nairobi mortuary.
Nakuru (3), Laikipia (2), Narok (1), Kajiado (3), Uasin Gishu (4), Kakamega (2), Kisumu (3), Kisii (1), Mombasa (3), Siaya (1), Kiambu (1), Nandi (1), Embu (1), Homa Bay (1), Nyeri (1) and Bungoma (1).
Interestingly, Dr Maingi was quick to point out that all protest related deaths were promptly identified, autopsies carried out, mortuary bills waived and bodies released to relatives or next of kin for burial.
“From the distribution of police stations of origin, I believe that the remaining unclaimed/unidentified bodies admitted during this period were NOT related to protests,” Dr Maingi said.
“Therefore, yesterday’s media reports were malicious and not based on evidence,” he added.
The pathologist was responding to a media report after human rights organisations claimed that the unknown bodies at the mortuary, excluding those recovered from an open pit in Kware, Nairobi, had gunshot wounds.
“Some of the bodies have gunshot wounds. We are asking those whose relatives are missing to also check at City Mortuary,” said Hussein Khalid, lawyer and executive director of VOCAL Africa.
On average, the City Mortuary receives about seven bodies a day, according to an interview with the director of the City Mortuary, Dr David Wanjohi, in September 2021.
Mr Wanjohi said the mortuary always receives bodies, whether they are private, police cases or accidents, and in August this year the mortuary recorded its lowest number of bodies at 60.
The number of bodies in the mortuary will now put the spotlight on the government at a time when the Independent Policing Oversight Authority (Ipoa) has complained of a lack of cooperation from the police in its attempts to investigate human rights abuses by security officers.
The IPOA has been pressing for the speedy investigation and prosecution of all individuals, including police officers, found guilty of human rights violations in the policing of the demonstrations.
However, it has accused the police of refusing to provide deployment plans, arms registers and records of their use, and of ignoring summonses issued by it.
Commissioner Joseph Waiganjo, in an interview with a local media outlet, said they were considering seeking arrest warrants against some senior commanders and officers who he said were blocking their access to key documents.
Mr Waiganjo claimed that the commission was also being frustrated by some public hospitals which were refusing to provide medical records for injuries allegedly sustained during the protests.
“It is not just the lack of cooperation from the police high command, but also from some government institutions,” Mr Waiganjo said.
“We have visited some major public hospitals trying to get medical records of those involved in the demonstrations and those whose injuries we believe are related to gunshot wounds, and the institutions are not giving us the cooperation we need.”
The commissioner alleged that there may be a special unit set up by the government to deal with the riots, which is shielded from accountability.
“As an authority, we suspect that there is a special unit being sent out there to commit atrocities, apart from the usual operations,” he said.
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