NMS, forest service negotiate over new cemetery land

City residents might soon have new burial grounds if the Nairobi Metropolitan Service and the Kenya Forest Service agree to a deal for cemetery land.

The 100-acre Lang'ata cemetery has been full for 20 years and plans have been initiated to look for an alternative burial site.

NMS now targets a land next to the cemetery which is covered with tress under KFS management.

In October, NMS had revealed plans of purchasing land in Mugumuini ward, Lang'ata sub-county.

The disclosure was contained in a response by NMS to queries of the National Assembly's Health Committee.

NMS director general Mohammed Badi on Tuesday said they are in consultation with KFS and the Ministry of Environment on acquiring new cemetery land in Nairobi.

“Langata cemetery is full. But we are engaging the Ministry of Environment and Kenya Forest Service to see if we can either swap part of their land which is next to the Langata cemetery or we buy that land and make sure it is converted into a cemetery for Muslims, Hindus and Christians,” he said.

NMS had already identified a parcel but according to Badi, it was far from the city and would be inconvenient for Nairobi residents to travel several kilometres for burial.

Badi noted that it would be difficult to convince KFS to swap land as they do not negotiate in issues where trees have to be cut.

This is because KFS has a target of 10 per cent forest coverage in the country by 2022.

In 2019, KFS laid out a strategy aimed at increasing the forest cover from the current 7.2 per cent to 10 per cent by 2022. 

Under the strategy, Kenya needs to plant 1.8 billion seedlings to achieve 10 per cent tree cover by 2022.

“They are doing their best and mostly they don't negotiate when it comes to cutting down trees to create bare land. Kenya Forest Service has their targets on the number of trees to plant within their land, so the 10 per cent green cover is the biggest headache to achieve,” Badi explained.

Badi said NMS will also ensure that they plant trees before they swap land with KFS

“But these are ongoing talks and also involve legal advice. As NMS we don't know how the outcome will be whether they will agree to swap or sell us the land,” he added.

Plans for a new cemetery land started in 2009 where the defunct Nairobi City Council lost Sh283 million in a 48.5 acre land deal in Mavoko. The actual value of the property was Sh24 million.

Senior officers, including former Local government PS Sammy Kirui and former Town Clerk John Gakuo, were implicated and suspended.

Kirui and Gakuo were jailed for three years and fined Sh1 million each for their role in the cemetery land scandal.

Gakuo died on October 30, 2018, at Mbagathi Hospital where he had been admitted under tight security.

Kenya has 18 cremation centres, mainly used by Asians. The best known in Nairobi are Lang'ata, Hindu and Kariokor crematoriums.

In 2019, City Hall said Nairobi residents with no rural homes may be forced to cremate their loved ones since Lang'ata cemetery was full and the county was yet to acquire land for a new one.

Permanent graves for adults at Lang'ata cost Sh30,000, Sh4,000 for children and Sh2,000 for infants. Non-city residents part with Sh40,000.

-Edited by Sarah Kanyara