Lang'ata Member of Parliament Phelix Odiwour alias Jalang'o has sounded alarm bells over wild animals that have invaded the Lang'ata Cemetery, unearthing shallow graves.
Jalang'o told Parliament that wild animals from a nearby park, possibly Nairobi National Park, and the expansive Ngong' Forest are roaming freely in the cemetery, causing families that have buried their loved ones a lot of pain and suffering.
Parliament now wants the Ministry of Health to assess the public health risks due to the continued use of the facility that was declared full two decades ago.
MPs also want the national government to work with Nairobi County to identify an alternative land that will be used for burying.
"Deeply concerned that, this situation has led to overcrowding and double-allocation of burial sites with bodies being buried in shallow graves leading to frequent uncovering by wild animals from the nearby national park... this has caused untold anguish, pain and suffering to bereaved families, and psychological torment to the neighbouring community," read part of the order paper.
"Ministry of Health to urgently conduct an assessment of the public health risks posed by the continued use of the Lang’ata Cemetery, and to institute mitigatory measures and collaborate with other stakeholders, including the Nairobi City County Government, to identify suitable alternative land for use as a cemetery."
Efforts to address the matter in the past ended up in a major scandal with taxpayers losing over Ksh200 million in a botched deal to find alternative land in the city's outskirts.
The matter has been dragging since 2005, when the defunct Nairobi City Council through the Ministry of Local Government proposed getting an alternative land, which saw taxpayers lose Ksh283 million.
In 2021, Nairobi County wanted to swap the cemetery land with a Kenya Forest Service 67-acre land nearby. It's not clear whether the deal sailed through.
There have also been talks of securing land in Kang'undo to serve as a new burial site for Nairobians but nothing has been concluded yet, leaving people with the Lang'ata option.
The County government has also been pushing Nairobians to seek alternative ways of sending off their departed.
In 2020, City Hall advised residents to cremate to avoid overcrowding at the cemetery. They were also advised to bury the deceased upcountry or other private burial sites.
