By R, KNA
The County Government of Busia has called on the members of the public to visit the Busia County Referral Hospital morgue to help in identification of 38 unclaimed bodies that are lying at before their disposal in 30 days’ time.
Addressing the media at the mortuary on Tuesday, the Chief Administrative Officer at the facility, Xavier Barasa said they will be disposing of bodies that have been unclaimed since 2023.
“We want to dispose 38 bodies that have been here for a long time. Out of these bodies, 5 are female while 33 are male. We are calling for the members of the public to come and identify these bodies within the next 30 days,” he said.
Barasa stated the mortuary capacity is low and the unclaimed bodies are increasing the congestion, adding that preserving of the bodies is also expensive.
“Our morgue has a capacity of holding 12 bodies but as per today, it has a total of 64 bodies. This has brought a challenge to us when it comes to preservation which is very expensive, that’s why we need to dispose,” he added.
The administrative officer further said they last had body disposal in 2023 where a total of 21 bodies were disposed. The current 38 unclaimed bodies have been there within a period of two years in which, according to him, many were brought after being involved in accidents and death from mob justice.
Busia County Referral Hospital Community Health officer Daniel Makhulo confirmed that the majority of the bodies have been brought from Busia County while others are from Uganda.
We have tried all means available in identifying these bodies through security agencies to help using the government database but it has not borne fruits. Most of the bodies were found in Busia County while we have those of people from Uganda, due to the fact that we are at the border and we offer health service without borders,” he said.
“After 30 days, we will be going to court for a court order to dispose these bodies,” Makhulo said.
