Coroner services: How much it will cost to preserve a loved one's body at City Mortuary

 

Giving a loved one a decent send-off begins with the choice of the mortuary.

Nairobi’s main public morgue at City Mortuary, which has since been renamed to Nairobi Funeral Home offers a wide range of coroner services.

In the Nairobi Finance Act of 2023, the Nairobi County government has chosen to introduce new morgue charges while other levies remain the same.

Preservation charges in the first 10 days for both adults and infants will be Sh500.

The charges will increase to Sh700 per day if the body stays at the facility past 10 days. Those are for bodies brought in from within Nairobi County.

For bodies brought to the facility from other counties, Sh700 will be charged per day.

For embalming services, CityHall has increased the charges by Sh500.

Embalming is the process of preserving a body after death. The first step is to clean the body and remove any fluids or solid waste.

Nairobi Funeral Home will charge Sh3,000 for adults from Sh2,500 and Sh2,500 for infants from Sh2,000.

The Finance Act also reveals that washing and dressing charges for adults, children infants at Sh2,800, Sh2,000 and Sh1,900 respectively for bodies.

Those brought from other counties will part with Sh3,000, Sh2,100 and Sh2,000 respectively.

Viewing charges have remained at Sh500 for an infant, child, or adult.

Going further, the Finance Act, 2023, the Nairobi Funeral Home will charge Sh500 to search for records of whether the body is of an infant, child or adult.

Initially, the morgue did not charge for burial permits and remains free in the new Finance Act.

Postmortem examination used to be free but City Hall has introduced new charges.

To conduct a postmortem examination on weekdays, Sh5,000 for adults, Sh3,000 (for children) and Sh1,500 (infants) will be charged.

During the weekend and after working hours, Sh8,000 will be charged for the procedure on the bodies regardless of whether it is an infant, child or adult.

To use the chapel at the facility, families will be charged Sh2,000 per hour from Sh1,500.

This year (2023), City Mortuary rehabilitation to transform it into a dignified facility started.

"Restoring dignity to our dearly departed and their families by improving the City Mortuary as well as our cemeteries. The contractor is on-site," Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja said earlier this year.

Works include the installation of new cooling units, cold room doors, and drainage works which is complete.

Public Health chief officer Tom Nyakaba told the Star that a contractor was on site to ensure all coolers were repaired and restored.

"This is to give proper and dignified services to Nairobians who have lost their loved ones. Under Governor Sakaja's leadership, we will ensure those who have lost their loved ones are treated with respect as a mark of last respect," he said.

According to a City Mortuary report dated April 5, 2023, Nairobi's main public morgue has 142 cooling units but only 33 are in use.

Sixty-three cooling units were installed and the morgue has 19 cold room doors of which, nine were supposed to be replaced. At the moment, City Hall has replaced six.

County's Public Participation, Public Engagement and Customer Service chief officer Lydia Mathia said her department would employ five customer service officers to handle customer care matters in the facility.

"A funeral gives friends and relatives an opportunity to express the love and respect they feel for someone who was important to them," she said.

Mathia said the morgue will have five officers deployed to the county funeral home to assist with recording admissions and receiving clients.

This will also increase client public awareness and knowledge of how the funeral process works and assist the family in dealing with the loss experienced in a dignified manner.

To beef up security, the county government will increase the number of officers from six to 10 at the morgue     

BY MAUREEN KINYANJUI