High Court orders KUTRRH to unconditionally release detained woman’s body over Sh1.5million bill

The High Court has issued a landmark ruling compelling Kenyatta University Teaching Referral and Research Hospital (KUTRRH) to release for burial, the body of a woman detained at the facility’s morgue for more than a month and-a-half over an outstanding hospital bill amounting to Sh1.5million.

In the ruling issued on April 23, 2025 High Court Judge L. N. Mugambi ordered the hospital management to immediately and unconditionally release the body of Roselyn Mukoko Aura detained at the Kenyatta Memorial Funeral Home due to non-payment of an outstanding a hospital bill of Sh1.5million.

This follows a petition filed by a niece to the deceased, Catherine Omari Juma through an applicant challenging the decision of the hospital management to withhold the body of the deceased, Roselyn Aura, due to non-payment of outstanding hospital bill, an act she says has caused the family psychologically distress and bruised their dignity.

“A dead body is not a merchantable product and other than causing psychological distress to the family and being a health hazard, the Respondents stand to gain nothing from its continued detention,

“I thus order that pending the hearing and determination of the petition a mandatory injunction is hereby issued compelling the Respondents to immediately and unconditionally release the body of the deceased, Roselyn Mukoko Aura to the family for burial and final rites,” ruled the Judge.

The ruling is a pacesetter that sets the stage for hundreds of Kenyans who have been denied the right to bury their departed relatives by hospitals that detain the bodies over unpaid debts, to demand justice.

In the application dated April 14, 2025 Omari who is the Petitioner submitted that the deceased who is her aunt, was admitted to KUTRRH on 22nd February, 2025 but unfortunately passed on 11th March, 2025 while undergoing a surgical procedure.

She had pleaded that pending the hearing and determination of the Petition, the court issues a mandatory injunction compelling the Respondent to immediately and unconditionally release the body of the deceased, Roselyn Aura, to the Petitioner and/or her family for burial and final rites.

Omari avowed that at the time the of her demise, the deceased had accumulated a medical bill to the tune of Sh1,533, 502. The body was moved to the mortuary operated by the hospital where the bill continued and continues to accumulate.

She further informed the court that so far, the Social Health Insurance Fund has paid Sh952,000 while the family managed to raise only Sh20,000 and as at the time of filing this Petition the balance stood at Sh561,502.

Justice Mugambi noted that the Applicant was seeking the release of the aunt’s body which is being withheld by the Respondents to enforce the payment of the outstanding medical bill.

Further, the Court maintained that the release of the body of the deceased will not extinguish respondents’ pursuit of any other legal remedies that may be available including the payment of the outstanding bill arising from deceased’s hospitalization.

“In the overall analysis, I find no reason whatsoever that may legally justify the continued detention of the body of the deceased Rosalyn Mukoko Aura in the circumstances of this case,” Justice Mugambi stated.

The court also took note of the fact that the deponent’ averrement that the family was not in a position to raise the balance and has thus made various pleas to the 1st Respondent to release the body without any success.

“There was a letter from the Assistant Chief Marura Sub-location dated 25th March, 2025 confirming the inability of the family to raise the money due to its poor background (COJ 2); the letter from Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist Council dated 28th March, 2025 and also a letter from the area Member of Parliament Hon James Mwangi Gakuya dated 26th March, 2025 which did not bear any fruits,” the court observed.

The pplicant had argued that withholding the body to enforce payment of the outstanding medical bill is not only illegal but has also affected the petitioner and deceased family psychological, social and spiritual well-being which has injured its human dignity.

The petitioner was categorical that courts have held that detention of a body to enforce payment of outstanding hospital bill is indefensible in law and cited the case Akoth Ajuang vs Michael Owour Osodo, Chief Ukwala Location & 3 others; LSK (2020) KEHC (KLR) in that regard.

Further, the petitioner/applicant argued that she has satisfied the conditions necessary for grant of mandatory injunction at an interlocutory stage as she has not only established a prima facie case with a probability of success but that indeed, there exists special circumstances for granting the orders sought.

The court noted that the sole ground relied upon by the Hospital in their response was that the Petitioner had instituted the Petition without obtaining the letters of administration as provided for under Section 82 (a) of the Law of Succession Act.

Responding to the application for the release of the body; Counsel for the Respondents pointed out that the existence of the hospital bill is not in contest yet the Petitioner or the next of kin, aware of their inability to raise the money, did not approach the Credit Control Department of the 1st Respondent in line with the 1st Respondent existing policy for assessment of means for the payment arrangement to be made or waiver to be granted.

The hospital’s lawyer had submitted that instead, the Petitioner chose to write letters which the respondent doubted that they were even received at the facility, as such faulting the Petitioner for offending the doctrine of exhaustion of remedies.

But the Court maintained that the Respondents did not demonstrate that there was any effort made to bring it to the attention of the deceased’s next of kin despite the many letters that had been written to the Respondents on this issue.

“I thus find that the claim the Petitioner instituted this case without exhausting the dispute settlement process is indefensible,” the Judge wrote, adding;

“The Respondents contended that there existed a dispute settlement mechanism within the Respondents policy but there was no policy document provided to back up those allegations of fact.”

The ruling brings to the fore, the agony bereaved families have to endure when the remains of their departed loved ones are detained by medical institutions over unpaid hospital bills, some running into millions of shillings.

The case of Aura is not the first one at KUTRRH in which families have had to agonize over how to clear huge bills incurred even after they lose relatives while undergoing treatment at the level 6 facility.

Last year, relatives of Peter Macharia Gachuhi from Mataara village in Gatundu North, Kiambu County had to wait for more than three months to bury their kin owing to an uncleared hospital bill to the tune of 1.5 million.

Initially, the bill stood at Sh2.5million but the Social Health Authority (SHA) paid Sh750,000, leaving the family with a debt of Sh1.75million.

Eventually, relatives were allowed to collect the body after raising Sh500,000 through a funds drive. The rest was waived by the management.