Kenyatta University, Teaching Referral and Research Hospital Funeral home has been ordered by the High Court to release the body of a woman detained at the facility’s funeral home for burial.
Justice Lawrence Mugambi issued the order compelling both the Kenyatta University, Teaching Referral and Research Hospital and the morgue to release the body of Roselyn Mukoko Aura, pending the hearing and determination of a lawsuit filed by her niece over a Ksh1.5 million medical bill dispute.
“I thus order that pending the hearing and determination of the Petition, a mandatory injunction is hereby issued compelling the respondents to immediately and unconditionally release the body of the deceased. Roselyn Mukoko Aura to the family for burial and final rites,” Justice Mugambi ruled.
Niece’s argument
The directive came after Mukoko’s niece, Catherine Juma Omari, moved to court seeking urgent intervention in the matter, accusing Kenyatta University Funeral Home of frustrating them in burying their kin.
Juma informed the court that Mukoko was admitted to Kenyatta University Referral Hospital on February 22, 2025, but unfortunately passed on on March 11, 2025, while undergoing a surgical procedure.
The court heard that by the time of her death, Mokoko had accumulated medical bills to the tune of Ksh1,533,502.
The body was moved to the mortuary operated by Kenyatta University Referral Hospital, where the bill continued and continues to accumulate.
“That so far, the Social Health Insurance Fund has paid Ksh952,000, the family managed to raise Ksh20,000, and as at the time of filing this petition, the balance stood at Ksh561,502,” Juma told the court.
Juma further informed the court that they were shocked by the huge bill that the referral hospital demanded them to pay when the family was not in a position to raise the balance.
“We made various pleas to KU Referral hospital to release the body without any success,” Juma added.
She also tendered a letter from the Assistant Chief Marura Sub-location dated March 25, 2025 confirming the inability of the family to raise the money due to its poor background.
Further, she also produced a letter from Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Council dated March 28, 2025, and also a letter from the area Member of Parliament James Mwangi Gakuya dated March 26, 2025 which did not bear any fruits.
“As a result, the withholding of the body to enforce payment of the outstanding medical bill is not only illegal but has also affected the petitioner and deceased family psychologically, socially and spiritually, well-being, which has injured their human dignity,” she narrated.
Hospital response
The hospital had opposed the release of the body, saying that the family of the deceased did not exhaust all the alternative dispute mechanisms before it approached the court.
“There existed a dispute settlement mechanism within the respondent’s policy, but there was no policy document provided to back up those allegations of fact,” KU informed the court.
Further, the medical facility contended that Juma did not demonstrate that there was any effort made to bring it to the attention of the deceased’s next of kin, despite the many letters that had been written to them on this issue.
“The release of the body of the deceased will not extinguish our pursuit of any other legal remedies that may be available, including the payment of the outstanding bill arising from the deceased’s hospitalisation,” KU told the judge.
In his ruling, Justice Mugambi ordered the unconditional release of Mukoko’s body to her family after finding that there were no compelling reasons for the hospital to continue withholding it.
“In the overall analysis, I find no reason whatsoever that may legally justify the continued detention of the body of the deceased Mukoko in the circumstances of this case,” Justice Mugambi ruled.
