The County Government of Kisumu has disposed 61 unclaimed bodies that had been lying at various morgues in the area.
This follows failure to honour reminders and a notice which was issued last month asking relatives of the deceased to collect the bodies.
County Director of Public Health, Fredrick Oluoch said the bodies were disposed of in mass graves at various public cemeteries, following a court order obtained recently.
The move, he said, was in line with the county government’s directive to dispose of the bodies and ensure burials are undertaken within 48 hours as a measure to contain the Covid-19 disease.
Oluoch said 16 more bodies were still lying unclaimed and uncollected, adding that the county government has extended a one-week period to the relatives, failure to which they shall be disposed of.
Out of the 16 unclaimed bodies, he said 13 are at the Kisumu County Referral Hospital (KCRH), while three others are lying at the Ahero Sub-County Hospital morgue.
In a notice issued on June 15th 2021, Kisumu County Attorney and Legal Adviser to the Governor Edris Omondi said the unclaimed bodies had been processed in court.
Despite various notices and reminders, he said the bodies were yet to be collected prompting the county government to seek authority to have them disposed of.
The county government, he added, had released the names and contacts of the family members who could not be reached, urging members of the public to help in tracing the kin and contacts of the unclaimed bodies.
By Chris Mahandara
