Court orders Kenya Hospital Funeral Home to release body detained over Sh0.5m bill

The High Court in Milimani has ordered the unconditional release of a body detained at Kenyatta University Teaching Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH) over a half-million bill.

Justice Lawrence Mugambi said there was no reason whatsoever that may legally justify the continued detention of the late Roselyne Aura.

The judge said a dead body is not a merchantable product, and other than causing psychological distress to the family and being a health hazard, the hospital stands to gain nothing from its continued detention.

“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,” said Justice Mugambi.

He stated that the release of the deceased's body would not preclude the hospital from pursuing any other legal remedies that may be available, including the payment of the outstanding bill resulting from the deceased's hospitalisation.

Catherine Omari sued KUTRRH, along with Kenyatta Hospital Funeral Home, for unlawfully detaining her aunt’s body due to an outstanding medical bill of Sh561,502.

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Omari told the court that at the time her aunt passed away, she had accumulated a medical bill amounting to Sh1,533,502, after which her body was moved to the mortuary operated by the hospital, where the bill continued to increase.

She stated that, to date, the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) has paid Sh952,000, and the family has raised Sh20,000, leaving a balance of Sh561,502 outstanding.

Omari said that despite three letters from the Assistant Chief, Marura Sub-location, dated March 25, 2025; the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council, dated March 28, 2025; and Area Member of Parliament James Gakuya, dated March 26, 2025, confirming the family's inability to raise the money due to its poor background, the hospital continued detaining the body.

Omari stated that it is not appropriate to withhold her aunt's body to force the family to pay the outstanding medical bill.

Only illegal, but it has also affected the family’s psychological, social, and spiritual well-being, which has injured its human dignity.

In their defense, the hospital said the deceased's family failed to raise their inability to pay the balance to the hospital’s Credit Control Department for payment arrangements of a waiver.

They accused Omari of offending the doctrine of exhaustion of remedies.