Kilifi County has announced plans to dispose of 443 unclaimed bodies recovered in connection with the Shakahola and Binzaro massacres, with families given 21 days to identify and collect their relatives.
County Executive Committee Member for Health Peter Mwarogo told the Senate Health Committee that the county had already identified a disposal site near Shakahola and expects the process to be completed by December.
Mwarogo spoke during a joint visit by the committee to Malindi Sub-County Hospital as the Senate begins a week of sittings and committee engagements in Kilifi County from September 21 to 25.
“The identification and collection of the bodies should be done within twenty-one days from the date of this notice,” the county government said in a public notice dated September 17, 2026.
The notice asks relatives, next of kin and members of the public to visit the Malindi Sub-County Hospital Mortuary to identify and collect 443 bodies and 45 body parts exhumed during the multi-agency operation linked to the Shakahola and Binzaro cases.
“Any body that remains unclaimed after the expiry of the stated period shall be disposed of in accordance with the applicable law and regulations,” the notice states.
Mwarogo urged families who believe their relatives may be among the victims to come forward before the deadline.
The large number of bodies has placed pressure on mortuary facilities in Malindi for several years. In a previous Senate report, lawmakers raised concern that hundreds of bodies recovered from Shakahola were congesting the facility and called for urgent intervention to restore normal operations.
The Shakahola deaths came to national attention in 2023 after bodies were discovered in shallow graves in Shakahola Forest, prompting a Senate investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deaths and the activities of religious organisations linked to the case.
The county says any remains not claimed within the stipulated period will be disposed of in line with public health and mortuary regulations.
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