The Malindi morgue that nobody wants

Although the hospital is using refrigerated containers to preserve the more than 400 bodies that have so far been exhumed from the forest linked to Kilifi cult leader Paul Mackenzie, it has emerged that the preservation resources are being stretched.  

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According to the hospital's medical superintendent, Dr David Mang'ong'o, the grim responsibility of handling the bodies, while essential, has resulted in a significant monthly loss of income.

He estimates that the hospital is losing Sh550,000 a month, adding to the strain on an already overburdened public health system. 

"Before the Shakahola incident, we used to collect Sh700,000 monthly, but now we can barely collect Sh150,000 because of the traffic around the morgue," said Dr Mang'ong'o.

He noted that although the morgue remains open and operational, members of the public prefer to keep the bodies of their loved ones or send them to other facilities, including private ones, which are costly. 

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"Every time there is a 'guest' either from outside or inside the facility, bodies are taken to private morgues and other facilities," Dr Mang'ong'o said.

"I think most people do not want to mix their loved ones with the other bodies around the mortuary," he added.

Some families in Malindi who recently lost loved ones painted a grim picture of the situation they found at the mortuary when they sought preservation services. 

According to Magarini Sauti ya Wanawake secretary Bibiana Salim, her family was shocked when they arrived at the Malindi Sub County Hospital mortuary on 15 August to preserve the body of her aunt.

Ms Salim said her aunt lived in Ngala Estate in Malindi town and they considered the mortuary as it was the most accessible. But they decided to take the body to Kilifi Funeral Home at Kilifi County Referral Hospital, about 65 kilometres away. 

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"The state of our only morgue is pathetic and there is a foul smell that keeps people away and families opt to take bodies to private hospitals. Hygiene is poor and many people feel that the bodies of their loved ones are not kept in a dignified manner," she said. She said the reasons given to them for this situation were that there were challenges because a lot of resources had been diverted to preserve the bodies exhumed from Shakahola forest.

Another family from Matsangoni in Kilifi North decided to take the body of their late grandfather to a private mortuary in Malindi. A relative of the deceased, who did not want to be identified as she was not authorised to speak on behalf of the family, said standards at public mortuaries in the county were poor.

"The families complain that the state of the public mortuaries is not good and they feel they should not take the bodies there," she said, adding that the bodies of the Shakahola victims had put off many families.

Dr Nurein Mohamed, the director of Star Hospital, confirmed that his private facility had seen increased traffic in recent months. The hospital is located in Malindi, a few metres from Malindi Sub County Hospital."There has been a change in the facility since the Shakahola incident. I can say that people prefer private hospitals for mortuary services," he said.

Dr Mang'ong'o said they usually offer the cheapest mortuary services and have always been committed to providing good services. He explained that they were now faced with the challenging task of meeting the health needs of the community.

"When given the opportunity to serve the community, we take it with dignity and serve them accordingly. But the traffic around the morgue has seen a reduction in members of the public, people are no longer doing it. We can see no other reason than what is happening in the hospital now," he said.

The facility can only hold 30 bodies at a time. In August, the hospital received a second refrigerated container that will be used to preserve bodies exhumed from the Shakahola forest.

The containers were donated by the Kenya Red Cross and each has the capacity to preserve between 250 and 300 bodies. The multi-agency teams currently visiting Shakahola forest for inspections are expected to resume the fifth phase of exhumations any time next week, following the discovery of a decomposed body in Shakahola forest last week, bringing the death toll to 429. 

Additional reporting by Maureen Ongala