Tears and delays: Kibra fire families stranded as DNA results drag on

The agony of families affected by the recent Kibra fire tragedy continues to deepen, as the process of identifying the badly burnt bodies may take up to a month.

DNA testing began Thursday at the City Mortuary, where heartbroken relatives gathered to give samples.

Officials said the results could take between two weeks and a month to be ready, a timeline that has only worsened the suffering of many who have already endured so much.

For many of these families, the wait is unbearable. Alongside the emotional trauma, they are grappling with rising expenses and dwindling support.

The funds they received through donations and government help are quickly depleting, and they are now appealing for more assistance and for the DNA process to be fast-tracked.

“The thing that is disturbing us most is being told that DNA will take one month,” said Justo Omunyala, whose family was among those hit by the fire.

Moses Okwokwo, another grieving father, said, "I was just called to collect the bodies of my children. This time is too long."

Some of the most affected families have lost multiple loved ones. Judith Ambani is one of them. She lost five relatives in the fire, just days after burying her firstborn child.

Still in recovery and on medication, Judith said, “DNA will take almost one month. I don’t know what state I will be in because even now I’m on medication.”

Her relative Juliana Wetere shared, “When you see her here, don’t think she is just a widow… she buried her firstborn just the other day. That wound hasn’t even healed.”

Moses Okwokwo Eboso, who travelled from Vihiga County, lost two children in the fire while other members of his family are still being treated at Kenyatta National Hospital. “I have two children in the mortuary. Others are in the hospital,” he said.

The pain of loss is also being felt hundreds of kilometres away in Emuhaya, Vihiga County, where the homes of the Ambani and Eboso families are covered in sorrow.

Relatives and neighbours are struggling to come to terms with the deaths of seven family members from the two households.

As the days stretch on, the families say all they want now is for the government to move faster.

The delay in identification, they say, is holding them back from closure and robbing them of the chance to honour their loved ones with a proper burial.