- The morgue has 19 cold room doors of which 9 are supposed to be replaced. City Hall has already replaced six.
- Despite the power blackout, the Senator discovered that there was no backup generator in the facility that was built in 1953.
Image: LEAH MUKANGAI
It was meant to be a normal site visit by the Standing Committee on Health on Monday at Nairobi's City Mortuary now known as 'Nairobi Funeral Home.
The committee led by its chairman Jackson Mandago were first treated to a power blackout at the facility which then led to unearthing disturbing details about the facility
Despite the power blackout, the Senator discovered that there was no backup generator in the facility that was built in 1953.
The facility has a capacity of 184 bodies.
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna put to task the Head of Nairobi Funeral Home David Wanjohi to explain what happens in the absence of electricity.
“Hakuna shida stima zikipotea kama milango imefunguliwa, although si vizuri kukaa hivyo," Wanjohi responded.
This loosely translates to: There is no problem if the electricity goes off and the doors are opened, although it is not right to stay like that.
Sifuna went on to ask whether the morgue had a backup generator and Wanjohi revealed that it broke down in 2018.
The Nairobi Senator questioned why the breakdown was not addressed since then.
"Tunapeleka malalamishi lakini hazishugulikiwi," said the Head of Nairobi Funeral Home.
This translates to: We have raised the matter but no action has been taken to have it solved.
The Committee chairperson, Senator Mandago told the workers at the morgue that his colleagues were just doing their oversight role.
"When we come here, it is not that we are coming in bad faith but because residents have complained that there is an issue," he added.
With no electricity, what awaited the Senators was a stench so strong that some could not walk into the cold rooms.
During the visit, the senators discovered that chemicals used for embalming were kept inside jerry cans which hung above every slab.
The next stop was the chemical store which the Senators said was untidy and had very old cages.
"I found the store there when I joined city mortuary and it has always been like this," the Head of Nairobi Funeral Home said.
Wanjohi has been working at the facility since 1993 when he came in as a young mortuary attendant.
Some of the mortuary staff including interns interviewed by the senators, who didn't reveal their identity, claimed that all was not well at the morgue.
As a result, Senator Mandago said the situation they witnessed was very displeasing and that the county government of Nairobi needed to begin working on it.
"There is a generator that has not been working since 2018 and unfortunately during our visit, we had a blackout which has lasted the better part of this visit and this affects the operations at the mortuary," he added.
The Committee has urged Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja to consider in their supplementary budget to urgently provide a generator for the morgue.
"We have also noted a shortage of staff, but considering the capacity of the morgue and the people it serves when there is a need to be given Priority in terms of equipping and also in hiring staff," Mandago added.
The morgue has 19 cold room doors of which 9 are supposed to be replaced. City Hall has already replaced six.