NAIROBI, Kenya Oct 8 – Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has sought answers over plans to bury 443 unclaimed Shakahola remains, raising concern that families could lose the opportunity to identify their loved ones if the interment proceeds before all forensic and tracing efforts are exhausted.

📻 Breaking It Down

Sifuna has asked the Senate Standing Committee on Justice, Legal Affairs and Human Rights to establish the status of DNA profiling and other forensic examinations on the remains and whether families of missing persons have been adequately involved in the identification process.

He is also seeking assurances that all reasonable efforts to identify the victims and reunite them with their families will be completed before the remains are buried.

The senator’s intervention comes after the Kilifi County Government announced in September that it was preparing to inter the 443 unclaimed remains by December 2026, subject to the completion of legal requirements.

📌 What You Need to Know

During a joint oversight visit to Malindi Sub-County Hospital by the Senate County Public Investments and Special Funds Committee and the Senate Health Committee, Kilifi County Executive Committee Member for Health Peter Mwarogo said the Directorate of Criminal Investigations had completed its investigations on the remains and given the county the green light to begin the burial process.

“DCI has completed its investigations and given us the go-ahead to start the interment process,” Mwarogo said.

The county said it was holding 443 bodies and remains recovered during the Shakahola exhumation exercise, including complete bodies and body parts.

Of the 443 remains, only 14 had been identified by relatives at the time, leaving hundreds still unclaimed.

Mwarogo said the county had identified land near Shakahola where the remains would be buried, but the process would first have to comply with the legal requirements governing unclaimed bodies.

The county had issued a Gazette notice giving relatives 21 days to come forward and claim the remains. After the notice period, officials said they would approach the court for authority to proceed with the interment.

📰 Source: Capital FM Kenya