- Investigators found 33 bodies in a Kericho County mass grave, most of them children, after initially suspecting only 14
- Two Nyamira County officials were arrested and brought to court, while detectives were given 30 days to hold them as investigations continue to expand
- The court ordered the exhumation under government supervision, revealing that the bodies had been smuggled from Nyamira due to the lack of public cemeteries in the county.
Investigators have identified 33 bodies buried in a mass grave in the Kericho County cemetery.
Source: UGC
A multi-agency team was sent to the scene on Sunday, March 22, after reports indicated 14 bodies had been buried there.
On Tuesday evening, March 24, detectives reported finding another 19 bodies.
Detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigation obtained a court order to exhume the bodies as part of their extended investigation.
According to preliminary investigation, eight bodies are of adults, and 25 are children.
Early Monday, two people were arrested in connection with the secret burial.
Nyamira County Public Health Officer, David Araka Makori, and cemetery manager, Richard Towett, popularly known as Ezekiel, were brought before the Kericho Chief Magistrate following their arrest.
They did not apologize as the investigation was still ongoing, with investigators receiving court approval to continue holding them for 30 days.
Investigators revealed that the bodies had been transported from Nyamira and buried in Kericho.
The court ordered that the remains, discovered to have been buried on March 20, be exhumed under the supervision of a state psychiatrist.
The guards for the exercise were given to the Kericho East Police Commander and the local OCS.
A post-mortem examination would be carried out at the Kericho Referral Hospital or another facility approved by a government psychiatrist, with Kericho Public Health officials overseeing the process.
The events followed the admission by the Nyamira County official that 13 bodies had been moved and buried in Kericho last Thursday.
Nyamira County has no public cemeteries and has historically been dependent on neighboring counties for burials.
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Source: TUKO.co.ke
