Kenyans have been warned that there could be at least 1,000 fake morticians who are offering services without the appropriate qualifications.
The announcement was made by the Funeral Services Association of Kenya (FUSAK) whose members also complained over the shortage of qualified morticians in the country.
“We have qualified embalmers who know what they are doing but the funeral industry is being chocked with quack morticians and briefcase brokers,” complained FUSAK National Chairman Ezra Olack.
Olack claimed that the brokers have been collecting money from unsuspecting mourners at funeral gatherings with a promise of getting coffins and other funeral logistics and have no regard for the emotional trauma of the bereaved families.
The FUSAK spokesman added that bodies handled by professional morticians do not have foul smell or changes such as swellings whereas the morgues they work in, are clean and well maintained.
Members of the association held a conference at Jambo Travellers hotel in Kilifi where they discussed challenges facing their industry.
Among the challenges that the morticians identified included stigma and poor working conditions.
One of the participant decried that he has to endure endless stigmatization to the extent that he is unable to engage in a romantic relationship.
“It is very difficult for us when it comes to dating. The moment you tell a lady or a man that you are a mortician it is as if it scares them off,” he revealed.
