A High Court has ordered the Kenyatta University Teaching, Referral and Research Hospital to release the body of a woman detained over an unpaid medical bill amounting to Ksh1.5 million. The directive compels both the hospital and its funeral home to hand over the body of Roselyn Mukoko Aura to her family for burial without any further delay.
The ruling came after a petition was filed by Mukoko’s niece, Catherine Juma Omari, who sought urgent court intervention following what she described as frustration from the hospital in their efforts to bury their deceased relative. According to the court documents, Mukoko was admitted to the hospital on February 22, 2025, and passed away on March 11, 2025, while undergoing a surgical procedure. By the time of her death, her medical expenses had reached over Ksh1.5 million.
Following her death, Mukoko’s body was transferred to the hospital’s mortuary, where the bill continued to accumulate. Juma told the court that the Social Health Insurance Fund had covered Ksh952,000 of the costs, while the family had managed to raise an additional Ksh20,000. This left an outstanding balance of Ksh561,502, which the family was unable to pay due to financial constraints.
Juma argued that the hospital’s insistence on retaining the body over the unpaid amount had taken a psychological, social, and spiritual toll on the family. She provided supporting letters from the Assistant Chief of Marura Sub-location, dated March 25, 2025, detailing the family’s financial hardships. Additionally, she submitted letters from the Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Council and the area Member of Parliament, all written in an attempt to plead for the release of the body, but these efforts were unsuccessful.
The hospital opposed the petition, arguing that the family had not followed the institution’s internal dispute resolution mechanisms before moving to court. It claimed that its policies provided avenues for resolving such issues and that the petitioner failed to demonstrate that efforts had been made to inform other next of kin of the deceased.
Despite the hospital’s objections, the court ruled in favor of the family. The judge found no valid legal justification for the continued detention of the body. He issued a mandatory injunction ordering the hospital and the funeral home to release Mukoko’s remains unconditionally and immediately so that the family could proceed with burial arrangements.
The court further clarified that the hospital’s right to pursue the unpaid bill through other legal means remained intact. The release of the body did not extinguish their entitlement to seek alternative legal remedies, including debt recovery.
In conclusion, the judge noted that holding a body to force payment of medical bills was not legally justifiable and amounted to a violation of the family’s dignity. The court emphasized the importance of balancing the need to recover debts with respecting the fundamental rights of bereaved families, particularly where evidence of financial hardship had been provided. The ruling was seen as a relief to the grieving family, who had been unable to proceed with final rites for over a month due to the hospital’s stance.
