Senate now wants all the 47 county governments to set aside funds in their County Annual Development Plans for financial year 2020/2021 for construction of cemetery, funeral parlours and crematoriums.
In a motion tabled by nominated senator Dr. Alice Milgo, senators not only want the county governments to construct the facilities but make sure are maintained and are beautiful to look at.
The lawmakers also want the counties to build recreational gardens for mourners.
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Led by nominated Senator Petronilla Were (Amani National Congress), the legislators faulted counties, accusing them for sleeping on their jobs.
“They should develop funeral homes and have chapels or churches within those funeral parlors,” Ms Were said in support of the motion.
“The world is changing. As we move forward, we will highly require these services. This motion is important as it will enable counties to prepare themselves to bury their own people. Families may not be able to,” she said.
But nominated Senator Gertrude Musuruve differed, saying budgets for creating such facilities should not be borne by county governments.
She called for counties to employ cemetery managers and to make cemetaries appealing places where people can visit without fear.
“They should be places where people can walk casually and relax. People should know that death is a transition. So, there is a need for capacity building and guidance,” she said.
In Western Kenya, for instance, she said, if the head of a family dies, he is usually buried in front of his house while unmarried daughters are buried in banana plantations.
In a situation where a person commits suicide, he or she is buried at night to show that it was a bad omen to the society.
Ms Were said counties should benchmark cemetery management on Western countries.
“There is also need to memorialize heroes at burial sites. We should provide areas to bury heroes who die and have nowhere to be buried back home,” she added.
On her part, nominated Senator Agnes Zani (ODM) said everyone should be buried in a cemetery.
“Death does not just become a transition as such; it is a transition for the person who has died, but it is still a transition for the community in terms of how they will carry themselves, conduct the burial and what they will do,” she said.
In her motion, Dr. Milgo said that the country’s cemeteries are filling up and it is becoming increasingly difficult to identify land to allocate as a public resource for cemeteries.
“Our society has changed. A number high status people in the society prefer cremation because some of the crematory materials such as ash are used to make jewelry, beads and ceramic cups,” the motion reads in part.
“Some of the ash is used to make tattoos and engrave names. In some cases, the ashes are put in glasses and seeds are planted there. Some people prefer this as opposed to burying bodies because they will be able to move around the ashes. It is a better method of remembrance,” she adds.
The Fourth Schedule of the Constitution delegates funeral parlours and crematoria to county governments.
