No peaceful rest for city’s dead
Langata Cemetery in Nairobi in a picture taken on October 23, 2014. PHOTO | EVANS HABIL
What you need to know:
- “The attendant was honest with us. We paid Sh7,000 and were told the grave had another two bodies, so we dug three feet,” said Mr Maurice Mutinda, whose brother, a police shoot-out victim, was buried there some weeks ago.
- “There is no place we can do six feet. There is a risk of exhuming bones,” said a grave digger.
- At a small patch of land near the main gate, which a cemetery attendant told us is referred to as the rich man’s corner, a grave can only go four-and-a-half feet deep, due to hard murram soil.
One grave at Lang’ata Cemetery in Nairobi is holding up to three bodies.
A grave is now being dug up to three feet deep, instead of the recommended six, to accommodate extra bodies, investigations show.
Old graves are being re-opened for as the burial ground bursts, 18 years after the City Council of Nairobi declared it full.
The cemetery filled up in 1996. To date, Nairobi is yet to get a new one. Previous attempts to buy land in Machakos County became a scandal after more than Sh240 million was used to buy a rocky patch of earth that was unsuitable for burials.
Last week, the Nation found a three-foot grave ready for use after it was dug at a site where two other bodies are buried.
“We were told we cannot go beyond three-and-a-half feet,” said Ms Salome Wachera, a mourner who was at the cemetery. “We were charged Sh7,000 instead of Sh25,000 for a permanent grave.”
Second and third bodies are accommodated in tombs at the upper-section of the cemetery, where most non-permanent graves are found.
“The attendant was honest with us. We paid Sh7,000 and were told the grave had another two bodies, so we dug three feet,” said Mr Maurice Mutinda, whose brother, a police shoot-out victim, was buried there some weeks ago.
At a small patch of land near the main gate, which a cemetery attendant told us is referred to as the rich man’s corner, a grave can only go four-and-a-half feet deep, due to hard murram soil.
NO PLACE WE DO SIX FEET
“There is no place we can do six feet. There is a risk of exhuming bones,” said a grave digger.
Mr Alex Otieno, a ward representative for the region, and Mr Manoah Karega, the chairman of the Nairobi County Assembly’s Health Committee, have protested the continued delay in getting a new cemetery.
“Hyenas from the forested areas on Ngong’ Road, the Animal Orphanage and the bushes near Karen sometimes dig up human body parts and bones, strewing them on roads,” said Mr Otieno.
Mr Karega said the cemetery was a health hazard and must be closed immediately. “We cannot wait any longer.”
Since purchase of a new cemetery a few years ago failed due to corruption, finding an appropriate alternative land has not been easy.
After failing to get offers for suitable land elsewhere, the Nairobi County government has recommended compulsory acquisition of privately-owned land next to the cemetery.
County Lands and Urban Planning Executive member Tom Odongo told the Nation that a 56 acre-parcel of land on Lang’ata Road, adjacent to the cemetery, would be acquired by the Ministry of Lands.
Early this year, Lands Cabinet Secretary Charity Ngilu asked Governor Evans Kidero to propose sites to the ministry.
“We have done so and what is remaining is for the ministry and the National Land Commission (to give their input),” said Mr Odongo.
“We have proposed acquisition of this land and these plans are at an advanced stage.”
