In Summary: National Police Service say the 19 bodies retrieved from River Yala are yet to be identified.
Written By Henry Kimoli
Police authorities say they are yet to identify the 19 bodies that were retrieved from River Yala, Siaya County in a period.
Police spokesman Bruno Shioso said Wednesday a team of detectives from Directorate of Criminal Investigations was appointed and tasked to investigate the discoveries.
He said the 19 bodies were picked from the river in the last two years.
The bodies were found dumped in River Yala and reported to the police and the number represents a cumulative body county over the period of two years contrary to other reports, he said.
“Despite repeated appeals to the public, no one has so far come forward to claim the bodies that are lying at Yala Sub County Level Four Hospital Mortuary,” he said.
He said a team of detectives from forensic investigations had arrived at the mortuary to pick samples that can help in identifying the bodies.
Shioso appealed to the public to help them with information that can help in investigations.
There is an ongoing public debate over the 19 bodies have been retrieved from River Yala.
A section of Kenyans took to social media to raise concern over the reports, as they asked Inspector General of Police Hilary Mutyambai to open investigations into the matter.
The report on River Yala was first aired by human rights activists who visited the site where the bodies are said to have been found.
On October 20, 2021, Yala Mortuary buried nine unidentified bodies to create space in the morgue. Officials said the hospital had been receiving bodies from the river.
Gem sub county police commander Charles Chacha said they had begun their investigations after Yala residents raised concern over the bodies.
This comes in the wake of increased cases of discovery of bodies across the country in killings that have remained puzzling and unresolved.
Some of the victims had been linked to drug trafficking, terrorism and other common crimes. Police have denied involvement in the killings.
Last week, a body of a suspected drug trafficker who had gone missing was found in a mortuary in Thika.
The body of missing suspected Mombasa drug baron Masuo Bakari Tajiri was found at a mortuary in Thika, Kiambu county.
The body, which was badly decomposed, had marks of torture and burns.
Tajiri went missing on December 5 alongside two others people who had accompanied him to Thika to purchase a matatu.
The two—Mohammed Hussein and Fahmi Bakari—are still missing with the families hoping for their safe return.
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