Nakuru County in Sh10m loss due to uncollected bodies

Nakuru County is now counting losses amounting to more than Sh10 million annually due to uncollected bodies at the Rift Valley Provincial General Hospital mortuary.

While making the announcement, the county’s public health officer Samuel King’ori said that for the last one and half years, over 85 uncollected bodies lie at the Rift Valley General Hospital.

King’ori has further pointed out that the uncollected bodies have led to a decrease in revenue since some of the relatives to the deceased collect the death certificates but never collect and bury the bodies of their loved ones.

King’ori further noted that in other facilities including Gilgil, Elburgon, Molo and Naivasha, uncollected bodies are buried after every three months.

This revelation comes after a report was recovered where the body of a middle-aged man from Haiti has been lying at the PGH mortuary for the last three years.

According to a letter from the Nakuru Police Station to the hospital’s superintendent, the deceased James O’brien died on March 2012 while being attended at the facility.

The health officer also says that another unclaimed body from Njoro has also been lying at the mortuary for the last one year.

The public health officer has now issued a 21-day notice for relatives to pick the uncollected bodies after which the county will organize for a mass burial.