Kericho mass grave: Nyamira governor says county only disposed 13 bodies

According to Nyaribo, the 13 bodies were to be disposed at Makaburini Public Cemetery in Kericho. 

The county boss argued that Nyamira handled unclaimed bodies in accordance with the law, but unnamed persons breached procedures along the way. 

“There were 13 bodies which were supposed to be disposed from Nyamira, and as the government, we follow the procedure,” Nyaribo said.

He clarified that the county had funded the process and made arrangements for the bodies to be transferred to Kericho’s Makaburini Public Cemetery. 

“My government has been disposing in Kericho, and we thought it was the nearest. We released an officer and a vehicle with 13 bodies fully compliant, following the laws,” he added.

The governor claimed that the officer in charge of the procedure made private arrangements rather than sending the money to Kericho County authorities.

“We gave money to be paid to Kericho County, but unfortunately, whoever was given the money did not give the county. He had an arrangement with a private morgue or cemetery where they went and disposed of the bodies,” Nyaribo said.

After an exhumation activity on March 24, 2026, 33 remains were found at the burial site—much more than the 13 that Nyamira County had officially authorized. 

“As Nyamira, we are not aware of those,” Nyaribo stated.

“If we were aware, we should have sought permission to dispose the 33 bodies. The permission of disposing 13 and disposing 33 is the same,” he said.

The governor claims that as investigations continue, a number of people connected to the transfer—from both Nyamira and Kericho—are already under arrest.

“Those people who are involved from the county of Nyamira to Kericho, I think they are already in custody, and the government is doing thorough investigations,” he said.

“We are also anxious to know where these other bodies boarded the vehicles, where they come from and how they found the graveyard. So that one we don’t know,” Nyaribo added.

The governor further revealed that the Ksh.32,000 allotted for the burial procedure was mishandled, with the officer allegedly giving the funds to a mortuary caretaker rather than paying through the county's formal channels.

“He was given 32 thousand, which he sent to one of the caretakers of the morgues instead of paying at the office,” he said.

Nyaribo insisted that his government is completely assisting investigators.

“We had nothing to hide, so tuachie polisi tuambie ukweli wa maneno,” he said.

Police are looking into the incident to unravel potential wrongdoing, unlawful body disposal, and the origin of the extra remains.