A special Forensic Investigations team from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) has been dispatched to River Yala and Yala Sub-County Level 4 Hospital following the recovery of bodies in the river.
In a statement on Wednesday, Police Spokesperson Bruno Shioso said 19 bodies have been recovered from the river in the past two years and not one month as reported in the media.
"This number represents a cumulative body count over the stated period contrary to the media reports insinuating all the incidences were from recent occurrences," Bruno said.
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He further said the collected bodies have not been claimed by any family members.
"Despite a repeated appeal to the public, no one has so far come forward to claim the bodies that are lying at Yala Sub-County Level 4 Hospital," he added.
At least 20 dead bodies have been retrieved from the river in recent weeks, according to a human rights group, Haki Africa.
Haki Africa said most of the bodies recovered from River Yala, which flows into Lake Victoria, were found in sacks, some tied up and others mutilated.
Its executive director Hussein Khalid added that the local mortuary was receiving the unidentified bodies and had buried nine of them in a mass grave to make space for more bodies.
Locals say the bodies are dumped into the river at night by unidentified people.
Khalid and another activist, Boniface Mwangi, traveled to the scene, and say they saw two bodies floating on the river.
