Dozens of bodies exhumed in latest Kenya mass graves

At least 25 of the remains were children, with most severely decomposed, according to a government pathologist

Kenyan authorities have exhumed at least 33 bodies, most of them children, from a mass grave at the church-owned burial site in the western town of Kericho, police confirmed on Thursday.

Homicide detectives in the East African nation dug up the remains of eight adults and 25 children, along with several dismembered body parts, following the discovery of the mass graves last Friday.

On Sunday, police announced they were recording statements from witnesses after securing the scene to “preserve the integrity of potential evidence.”

Government pathologist Richard Njoroge told reporters on Thursday that, of the 25 children, autopsy results revealed eight were male, ten were female, and the gender of the remaining children could not be determined. He said some of them were neonates and others were fetuses.

“They were in various stages of decomposition. Only a few were fresh, the other ones were severely decomposed,” Njoroge said.

Mohamed Amin, chief of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, said efforts are ongoing to “establish whether these bodies were buried lawfully and how they arrived” at the cemetery.

Local media reports and initial investigations indicate that at least 13 unclaimed bodies may have been transported from Nyamira District Hospital to the Makaburini cemetery.

READ MORE: Dozens more bodies exhumed in ‘starvation cult’ case

Under Kenyan law, hospitals and morgues must obtain court approval before disposing of unclaimed bodies after 14 days.

Two men – a county public health officer and the cemetery manager – have reportedly been arrested and are currently under questioning by authorities.

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The discovery marks the third major mass grave incident in Kenya in recent years. In 2023, police exhumed hundreds of bodies in southeastern Kilifi County linked to the Shakahola starvation cult, where more than 400 followers of jailed religious sect leader Paul Mackenzie allegedly died after being instructed to starve themselves to “meet Jesus.”

Last month, investigators uncovered the remains of 52 more people buried in shallow graves in Kilifi.

In 2024, nine bodies were discovered at a dumpsite near a police station in Nairobi, the national capital. A Kenyan police watchdog said at the time that it was investigating potential police involvement in the incident.