Lang’ata burial charges raised by up to 60 per cent

What you need to know:

The proposals to raise burial fee and slash cremation charges come as the county continues to search for open land in outlying areas of the city to build new cemeteries.
Pressure on cemeteries has increased in recent years due to rapid increase in population in Nairobi as economic hardship force many people who flock to the capital for work opportunities to drop the traditional practice of ferrying bodies for burial upcountry.
In a move to encourage cremation, City Hall has also proposed to slash cost of hiring attendants, transporting remains and obtaining certificate.

City Hall plans to increase burial fees and cut cremation charges as part of measures that seek to ease pressure on Nairobi’s cemeteries amid land shortage.

It would cost Sh30,500 to bury an adult at the Lang’ata Cemetery, up from the current rate of Sh25,000.

Families are expected to pay Sh22,500 to bury a child, up from Sh15,000 while an infant will attract a fee of Sh15,500, up from Sh12,000.

Nairobi will keep burial charges at the “special graves” of City Park cemetery unchanged with adults fee at Sh70,000. Families burying children and infants will be charged Sh50,000 and Sh30,000 respectively.

The proposals to raise burial fee and slash cremation charges come as the county continues to search for open land in outlying areas of the city to build new cemeteries.

If approved by Members of County Assembly, the cost of burying bodies in Lang’ata will edge up by up to 50 per cent even as the cost of cremation falls by nearly the same margin.

Pressure on cemeteries has increased in recent years due to rapid increase in population in Nairobi as economic hardship force many people who flock to the capital for work opportunities to drop the traditional practice of ferrying bodies for burial upcountry.

Under the proposed changes, it would cost Sh40,000 per adult or 60 per cent up from Sh25,000 being charged at the moment to bury bodies arriving from outside Nairobi County at the Lang’ata facility.

Bodies of children and infants ferried to Nairobi from other parts of the country would be charged Sh28,500 and Sh21,500 respectively instead of Sh20,000 and Sh15,000 at the moment.

The Lang’ata facility would also accept bodies of foreigners only after a payment of Sh50,000 instead of the current Sh30,000. In case the foreigners are children and infants, their families now face bills of Sh35,000 and Sh26,000 respectively as opposed to Sh20,000 and Sh15,000.

Also set for upward revision is the cost of temporary graves at Lang’ata which the City Hall has sought to raise to Sh10,000, up from Sh7,000 for an adult and Sh5,000 instead of Sh4,000 for a child.

The proposed changes, however seek to slash cremation charges from Sh13,500 to Sh9,000 for adults. It would similarly cost only Sh6,000 instead of Sh9,000 to cremate a child and Sh4,000 instead of Sh6,000 being asked for now to cremate an infant.

In a move to encourage cremation, City Hall has also proposed to slash cost of hiring attendants, transporting remains and obtaining certificate.

The changes will see cost of shipping cremated remains drop from Sh11,250 to Sh7,500, cremation certificate will cost Sh600 instead of Sh900 while a pathologist carrying out post-mortem will charge Sh1,500 per body instead of Sh2,000 at the moment.

The proposed changes will also see burial fees double to Sh1,000 with grave reservation fee rising by at least 25 per cent from between Sh30,000 and Sh40,000 to Sh50,000.