The Nairobi County Assembly Health Committee has opposed calls by the national government to close the Lang'ata Cemetery without giving alternative land.
The committee was responding to the recent remarks by Public Health Principal Secretary Mary Muthoni, who appeared before the National Assembly.
During the sitting, the PS noted that a committee that was formed to look into the health risk posed by the cemetery had recommended that the facility that sits on a 100-acre piece of land be degazetted. "If we were to safeguard the public health and promote a healthier and safer society, and therefore, on this issue of the cemetery, we are behind the recommendations that were made by the committee that should be implemented," said the PS However, the Nairobi Assembly Committee disagreed with the PS, asking that there must be a correct procedure for the closure of the cemetery. "We cannot wake up and say we are closing it, we must have an alternative place for the departed, because in a day, about 20 people are buried at the cemetery," said Maurice Ochieng, the Committee chairperson.
Adding that, "If we just stop immediately and city residents will suffer, as a committee of health, we are deliberating on the way forward before it is closed." Woodley Kenyatta Golf Course MCA Davidson Ngibuini said this was a weighty matter that affects city residents and ought not to be taken lightly. "The issue of shallow graves is weighty, as said by the national government; thus, an alternative should be found and a policy around it," noted Ngibuini.
