Liz Jackson calls for DNA database after Nairobi County issued notice over 400 unclaimed bodies
By Paulette Mboga, August 11, 2026Digital content creator Liz Jackson has called for the creation of a DNA database in Kenya after Nairobi County issued a seven-day notice for families to identify and collect 473 unclaimed bodies at Nairobi Funeral Home.
The bodies are lying at the facility, formerly known as Nairobi City Mortuary, as efforts continue to have them identified and collected. The county said the bodies were admitted under different circumstances, including natural deaths, sudden deaths, accidents, suspected murder, drowning, mob injustice, and unknown causes.
Reacting to the notice, Liz Jackson said a DNA database could help connect unidentified bodies with relatives who may be searching for their loved ones. She explained that such a system could allow families to find answers even when the identity of a deceased person is not immediately known.
“I wish Kenya had a DNA database to take DNA samples of the unclaimed bodies and match them up with the database, and the family tree of the deceased appears,” Liz Jackson said on Tuesday, August 11, 2026.
Jackson said having such a database could make it easier to identify people whose relatives may have no information about their whereabouts. She explained that there could be families somewhere looking for their relatives without knowing that their loved one is among the unclaimed bodies at the Nairobi Funeral Home.
Jackson raises concern over body disposal
The seven-day notice gives families and members of the public time to check the list and identify bodies that may belong to their relatives. Nairobi City County Health, Nutrition and Wellness department said the bodies have remained at the facility from their respective dates of admission as efforts to have them identified and collected continue.
Jackson said the issue goes beyond identifying the bodies currently at the mortuary. She explained that preserving information through DNA could help families in cases where they have been unable to locate a relative or confirm what happened to them.
“Now somebody somewhere maybe looking for their relatives and once the government disposes the bodies, they’ll never know what happened to their loved one,” Liz Jackson said.
Jackson’s call for a DNA database comes as families have been urged to act within the seven days before the county seeks authority to dispose of the unclaimed bodies. She said a system that could match DNA samples with family records would give families a chance to know what happened to their loved ones, Liz Jackson said.