Normally, a grave should be dug 6 feets down.
However, this is not the situation at Nakuru South Cemetery in Manyani estate of Nakuru Town East Constituency.
Here the dead are buried less than 6 feet down.
This, famousnakuru.co.ke has learnt that it is due to the fact that there is recycling of graves at the cemetery.
A reliable source revealed that the burials taking place at Nakuru South Cemetery are happening within graves that span up to 20 years ago.
The source adds that in the past years no stone graves were allowed in the cemetery.
According to him, it’s only like two years ago that the stone or plastered graves were allowed.
One of the grave diggers at Nakuru South Cemetery admits that indeed what is happening at the cemetery is recycling of graves as they always come across skulls and bones of human beings whose bodies were buried before.
These remains are now the talk of town in Nakuru with a video that went viral on social media claiming that the bones are being ferried to gioto dumpsite to pave way for the new burials.
A claim that Nakuru County Government has refuted.
According to a statement by Nakuru County Chief Executive for Health Roslyn Mungai, there has never been exhumation at South Cemetery.
She added that the County Government of Nakuru has been carrying out maintenance of all cemetery yards in Nakuru to ensure they meet the required standards.
This even a reliable source indicated that the cost for a grave at the South Cemetery which is considered for the average locals ranges between Kshs.5, 000 and Kshs.10, 000.
But another shocking revelation of disparity between the poor and the dead is that while at the North Cemetery graves are dug six feet down, at the South Cemetery only a shallow grave of about 4 feet is dug.
According to grave diggers, this is done to avert interference with the remains of other bodies that were interred at the cemetery in the past.
They admit that more often they come across remains of bodies that were buried long time ago.
“Here you can’t dig deeper for obvious reasons, though some clients insist that their loved ones should be buried in a 6 feet grave,” they say.
It should be noted that this is almost the fourth time the south cemetery is being recycled due to the fact that Nakuru has no space for another cemetery after the current ones were overwhelmed.
Mr.David (not his real name) has been grazing his animals within the south cemetery for so many years and he admits that indeed the current graves being done cannot be 6 feet due to the recycling aspect.
David Kuria from Nakuru Human Rights Network points out that if the cemetery was declared full, then such burials indicate recycling of the graves, hence causing disturbance to the dead.
“The county should just secure a space for another cemetery,” he said.
Author: Pristone Mambili
A trained Journalist with passion for Radio and online Writing.