The Ministry of Health has issued a warning about the deteriorating state and overcapacity of the Lang’ata Cemetery.
Appearing before the Parliamentary Committee on Implementation on Thursday, April 10, Public Health Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni flagged the cemetery as a potential public health and safety hazard due to years of poor maintenance.
Citing a report by a select committee, Muthoni noted that the cemetery has reached critical levels of congestion, raising serious concerns about environmental pollution and the spread of diseases.
"The City County of Nairobi must ensure all activities at Lang’ata Cemetery comply with public health regulations to prevent the spread of infectious diseases, environmental pollution, and social distress,” she said.
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Muthoni further warned that if the Nairobi County Government fails to act, the Ministry of Health will not hesitate to declare the cemetery a public health hazard, forcing its immediate closure.
According to Muthoni, among the Ministry’s top recommendations is the reclamation of a five-acre parcel of land adjacent to the cemetery.
The land, reportedly under illegal occupation and currently hosting residential buildings, is seen as a critical solution to the cemetery’s crisis.
"Nairobi City County should urgently reclaim the grabbed land next to the cemetery. We advise that all necessary documentation be acquired to secure ownership and allow for expansion,” she added.
Muthoni also recommended the construction of a fence surrounding the cemetery, noting that it has become a hotspot for crime and exposure to wild animals.
In August 2023, Rangwe MP Lilian Gogo raised concerns over the same, claiming that wild animals were mutilating bodies buried in shallow graves.
“We bury our dead in shallow graves and expose them to be mutilated by wild animals. The African culture is to the extent that it respects the dead. It is unfortunate that when we expect our dead to rest, they do not, and instead, their bodies are mutilated by wild animals," she said.
Gogo further claimed that some bodies were not buried, but left to decompose out in the open, sending stench to the entire cemetery.
“It is a problem when we have the stench of our dead coming from the backyards of where we live," she added, pointing a finger at the Nairobi City County and the Ministry of Health.
