Police in western Kenya have revealed that at least 33 bodies exhumed from a mass grave in the town of Kericho were transferred from a hospital morgue. The discovery has left local residents in shock and raised urgent questions about the circumstances surrounding the burials.
Authorities announced the development on Thursday, confirming that a majority of the recovered bodies are those of children. The grave was found on property owned by a church.
Residents of the area expressed horror and demanded transparency. One community member, who identified himself as a longtime resident of Kericho County, voiced the collective anguish of the neighborhood.
“We have been here and we have been living in Kericho County for as long as 24 years, 27 years. We were born here, seen a lot, but never seen anything like this,” the resident said. “So, we need something that will show us the truth about these bodies.”
Another resident described the anxious wait for answers after the grim find.
“We have been here for the last three days waiting for investigations to conclude,” they said. “Many people were here looking on, but we still have not gotten to know the real reason why those bodies were buried there. We have heard they were brought from another county and buried here in Kericho. We do not know why, but as residents of Kericho, we are waiting to find out why they came to be buried here.”
As of Thursday, it remained unclear why the bodies were removed from the morgue and interred in the church-owned cemetery, or whether the burials were conducted legally.
Under Kenyan law, hospitals and mortuaries are required to dispose of bodies that remain unclaimed for more than 14 days. However, the process mandates authorization by a court order.
An investigation is currently underway, and officials have indicated that local residents may need to be patient before all the facts are established.