The government is considering burying hundreds of unidentified bodies exhumed from the Shakahola forest in Kilifi County, nearly two years after the shocking massacre came to light.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Kipchumba Murkomen says that the identification process of the victims through DNA has been suspended, with most of the families failing to show up or being unable to pay for tests. Out of 453 bodies unearthed from shallow graves, more than 300 remain unidentified.
“About some families are in Vihiga, Siaya, and Kisumu, and they may not even know that their relatives died in Kilifi.”They are not presenting themselves for DNA testing,” Murkomen said during a media roundtable in Nakuru.
The Shakahola tragedy, which stunned the country in 2023, was followed by a year-long exhumation and testing exercise. But the pace slowed dramatically in March after the government chemist reported a shortage of DNA testing kits and the high cost of importing them. The process has yet to resume.
With the bodies still stored at the Malindi Sub-County Mortuary, Murkomen says the government may inter them and establish a memorial park within the forest.
“The process has been complex. We are considering burying the remaining bodies and setting up a memorial centre in Shakahola,” he said.
So far, only 66 victims have been positively identified either through DNA matches or physical recognition leaving many families without closure.
