Senators have launched an inquest into the state of City Mortuary.
The senators want to establish the optimum capacity of the mortuary and its ability to handle the number of bodies received on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
They further want to establish the number of morticians employed in the facility, their qualifications, remuneration and training offered.
Marsabit Senator Mohamed Chute also wants the Senate through the Health Committee led by Uasin Gishu Governor Jackson Mandagor to find out the processes, if any, by which the staff are evaluated and monitored to ensure that they are providing high-quality services and maintaining ethical standards in their work.
"In the statement, the committee will undertake a visit to the facility to ascertain the state of operations, including whether there are any plans to expand or upgrade the mortuary’s facilities or equipment,” Chute said.
The committee during the visit should also be able to establish the amount of public funds the facility received in the last 24 months.
“The committee should disclose the number of mortuary coolers, autopsy tables, body lifts, cadaver carts and embalming instruments available and in use, stating the average length of time cadavers are held before being released to families or buried,” he added.
In addition, it will seek to find out the average cost of handling and storing cadavers, outlining challenges, if any, in ensuring that bodies are properly preserved and maintained.
The committee will then be required to recommend measures to bring the facility to a competitive state and to improve transparency and accountability in its management even as it competes with other private mortuaries.
City Mortuary is undergoing rehabilitation to transform it into a dignified facility.
Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja early this month told the Star that works at the facility were underway.
"Restoring dignity to our dearly departed and their families by improving the City Mortuary as well as our cemeteries. The contractor is on-site," he said.
Works include the installation of new cooling units, cold room doors, and drainage works which is complete.
