More than a month after Joyce Wangare Njiru died while receiving treatment for a heart condition, her family is still unable to lay her body to rest.
Instead of preparing for burial, the family from Mito Mbili in Cherangany, Trans Nzoia County, has been locked in a painful struggle to secure the release of her body from a Nairobi hospital over an unpaid Sh2 million medical bill.
Their ordeal has thrust back into the spotlight the contentious issue of hospitals detaining bodies over unpaid bills, despite a 2025 High Court ruling declaring the practice unlawful and fresh efforts by Parliament to outlaw it.
“We are unable to bury our kin because of the huge hospital bill. Her body is still lying in the mortuary
Born in 1964, Ms Wangare had battled heart disease for the past decade after being diagnosed in 2016, a condition her family says exhausted them emotionally and financially.
She attended her routine monthly clinic at Coptic Hospital in Nairobi in April, but her health deteriorated in May, forcing her admission in June 2026.
Her condition worsened and she was later moved to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), where she died on June 26, 2026. Her family says the cost of keeping her alive had become overwhelming long before her death.
“We have really struggled with her. She has been in and out of hospital for all those years. Every three months we spent almost Sh120,000 on treatment,” said Mr Njue.
The family says the Social Health Insurance (SHA) scheme paid only Sh300,000 of the Sh2.3 million hospital bill, leaving an outstanding balance of about Sh2 million.
Already financially drained by years of treatment, they say they cannot afford both the hospital bill and burial expenses.
When the Nation visited the home on Monday, only a few neighbours had dropped by to offer comfort. Funeral tents stood empty as burial plans remained indefinitely suspended.
“We have organised several harambees, but we have not met our target. We have only managed to pay Sh100,000, leaving a balance of Sh1.9 million,” another family member said.
The tragedy has also dealt a devastating blow to Ms Wangare’s husband, Mr Samson Njiru Njagi, who is himself battling an ischaemic stroke and memory loss. He suffered the stroke on July 6, days after losing his wife.
“The death of my wife has really affected me. I was unable even to travel to Nairobi while she was receiving treatment because I was also sick. I am in pain, very weak, and I just pray that Kenyans can help me,” he said.
“If I can at least get my wife’s body for burial, I will find some peace and concentrate on my own treatment. Right now I am very weak,” he added.
Burial committee chairman Mr George Kariuki said community members initially mobilised funds to support Wangare’s treatment, only for the campaign to turn into an appeal to bring her body home.
“We started fundraising to save her life, but she passed away. Now we are struggling to raise money just to bury her. The family continues to mourn every day,” he said.
He said four members of the burial committee travelled to Nairobi in July, accompanied by a letter from the area chief, hoping the hospital would release the body on humanitarian grounds.
“We went to Coptic Hospital in July with our chief’s letter, but they declined our request. The husband is sick and the family cannot find peace. It is heartbreaking,” Mr Kariuki said.
According to him, the hospital demanded a one million shillings down payment and a commitment to clear the remaining balance within two weeks before releasing the body.
“We could not reach an agreement. We returned home and are now appealing to friends, well-wishers and Kenyans of goodwill to help us clear the bill so we can give our loved one a dignified send-off,” he said.
A Coptic Hospital administrator confirmed to Daily Nation on Monday that the family was free to return and renegotiate the outstanding bill, saying the hospital was aware of the family’s concerns. The administrator, however, declined to comment on camera, saying the matter should not be sensationalised.
The case has renewed scrutiny over the continued detention of bodies by hospitals despite a landmark High Court decision. In a ruling delivered on September 23, 2025, Justice Nixon Sifuna held that hospitals cannot lawfully detain bodies as security for unpaid medical bills.
In February, Members of the National Assembly backed the Health (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which seeks to guarantee emergency treatment before payment and prohibit public hospitals from detaining bodies over unpaid bills.
The Bill, sponsored by Kirinyaga Woman Representative Njeri Maina, proposes amendments to the Health Act to make it an offence for healthcare facilities to deny emergency treatment or detain deceased persons as a means of recovering medical costs.
“The Bill seeks to resolve the problem of patients or their relatives having to pay medical fees before admission and treatment,” Ms Maina said, adding that the proposed law seeks to safeguard the constitutional rights to health and human dignity.
If enacted, the law is expected to spare bereaved families from the emotional and financial anguish of delayed burials while strengthening constitutional protections on dignity in death as well as in life.
