For 59 families, the search for missing relatives could end at Mama Lucy Kibaki Funeral Home after Nairobi City County issued a seven-day notice seeking people who may identify and claim the bodies held at the facility.
The county's Health, Wellness and Nutrition department said the remains had been kept at the funeral home since their respective admission dates and were yet to be collected.
The bodies were admitted between April 2025 and February 2026, according to the notice. The list mainly contains adult men, but also has women and a number of bodies whose identities have not been established.
Nairobi City County is now appealing to relatives, friends and other members of the public to examine the list and come forward if they recognise any of the deceased.
"The following 59 (fifty nine) unclaimed bodies are lying at MAMA LUCY KIBAKI FUNERAL HOME from the date of admission, awaiting collection. Pursuant to the Public Health Act Cap 242 (subsidiary, PUBLIC HEALTH (PUBLIC HEALTH MORTUARIES) RULE, 1991 (2), interested members of the public are asked to identify and collect the bodies within 7 days, failure to which The Nairobi City County will seek disposal authority," the notice read in part.
Details contained in the notice include the names of the deceased where available, their ages, gender, admission numbers and the facilities or areas from which they were brought to Mama Lucy Kibaki Funeral Home.
Some of the deceased have not been identified and are listed using descriptions such as “Unknown African Man” or related descriptions. Others have names recorded against their entries, offering a possible lead for relatives or acquaintances searching for missing family members.
The county's latest appeal comes shortly after it issued another notice involving a much larger number of unclaimed bodies at Nairobi Funeral Home, previously known as Nairobi City Mortuary.
On August 11, the county announced that 473 bodies were being held at the facility and asked families and members of the public to identify and collect them within seven days.
The county gave a similar warning that failure to claim the remains within the specified period would lead it to seek authority to have the bodies disposed of.
The list concerning the Nairobi Funeral Home was dated March 18, 2026, and contained details of all 473 bodies listed by the county.
The growing number of unclaimed bodies has also been recorded at Kenyatta National Hospital, which issued its own notice in March concerning 480 bodies at its Farewell Home.
According to KNH, the remains comprised 102 adults and 378 children. The hospital gave families seven days to come forward and identify and collect the bodies, adding that it would seek court authority to dispose of the remains if they remained unclaimed.
The separate notices issued by Nairobi City County and KNH show the number of unidentified or unclaimed remains being held in public mortuaries, with some bodies staying at the facilities for long periods as relatives remain untraced or identification is not established.