The Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Council (KMPDC) has issued a stern warning to hospitals against holding dead bodies as security for unpaid debts.
KMPDC CEO David Kariuki said in a public notice on Tuesday, November 18, 2025, that the right to dignity does not end with death.
“While health facilities are entitled to pursue payment for services rendered, the law does not permit them to detain a deceased person’s body as collateral for unpaid bills. Such actions breach constitutional rights and amount to a criminal offence,” he said.
Article 28 of the Constitution guarantees every person the right to dignity, which must be respected and protected. Section 137 of the Penal Code also makes it a criminal offence to hinder the burial of a deceased person without lawful authority.
Kenyan courts have reinforced this principle. In cases such as Mary Nyang’ayi Nyaigero & Another v Karen Hospital Limited (2016) and Ludindi Venant & Another v Pandya Memorial Hospital (1998), the courts stated: “There is no property in a dead body. It cannot be offered or held as security for payment of a debt. It cannot be auctioned if there is a default. It cannot be used to earn rental income in a cold room. In sum, there is no legal basis for detaining it.”
Kariuki urged hospitals and mortuaries to work with families on payment plans or other arrangements to settle outstanding bills instead of detaining bodies.
“Hospitals and mortuaries/funeral homes are therefore advised to engage families of deceased persons in payment plans or other alternative arrangements for settling outstanding bills, rather than detaining bodies,” he said.
He said this approach upholds the law and preserves the dignity of the deceased.
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