Kenya’s State Chemist Reveals Shortage Of Shakahola DNA Test-Kits
The search for answers and closure has been excruciating for the hundreds of families who lost loved ones in Shakahola, the country’s worst religious-inspired atrocity.
What began as a desperate search for the truth has turned into a demanding, emotional, and exhausting struggle as the DNA testing and identification procedure continues, with no clear end in sight.
That hunt, it appears, is far from over. The Office of the Government Chemist has finally given light on the delays that have left families waiting for answers.
He exposed the financial and bureaucratic obstacles that still remain in the way.
“It is a very expensive undertaking especially when you’re dealing with exhumed remains, because you are not using your ordinary extraction, you are using highly stringent chemical regimes,” said Forensics Directorate Head Dr. Joseph Kimani.
The remains recovered from the Shakahola killing fields were at various stages of decay.
Shakahola: DNA delays persist
— Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) March 13, 2025
Families of victims face prolonged wait for identification.
Government chemist lacks funds for DNA testing
Government chemist cites high costs as a major hurdle
Families eager to bury their loved ones
#CitizenTonight@SamGituku pic.twitter.com/ABkbuF2W82
This has, inadvertently, become a factor that the government claims has complicated the DNA extraction and identification process even more.
“Most samples were in bad shape; they were difficult to get a good profile for DNA the bodies were buried in soil, there is an abundance of humic acid and again because of decomposition processes the DNA is highly degraded,” said William Munyoki from the Office of the Government Chemist.
The government chemist instructed the deceased’s family to provide samples that could be matched with those of the victims.
Some obliged, but the government chemist thought the samples were insufficient.
“If you have a certain number of bodies from a scene of a disaster, you require about three times the number of the bodies you have to compare with… you need a broader sample from relatives,” said Dr. Kimani.
“If you see a delay, it is about how fast and quickly you get to have relatives come out for cross-matching.”
Even if more families provide samples, the difficulty remains: acquiring the testing resources.
The Government Chemist says that because of the large number of fatalities and the degraded state of the bodies, a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test is required.
However, this important test is not available in the country, and outsourcing it is excessively expensive.
“It is expensive but has been funded by the government very expensive. There is no local manufacturer who does these kits, we have to procure them from abroad and the procurement processes are lengthy,” Munyoki said.
“The kits are damn expensive, one kit to carry out just 200 runs is almost 1 million, so the expense for instance for Shakahola is in monumental amounts,” Dr. Kimani added.
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Out of the 453 bodies recovered from Shakahola, the government has analyzed 333 samples, with even fewer being connected to living relatives.
“We have some profiles that have not been matched with any relatives so they need to come for samples,” said Munyoki.
It may appear that the families of the deceased will need to exercise even more patience as they endure an agonizing wait for answers.
With each passing day, the closure they so desperately seek—marked by proper burials for their loved ones—is just out of grasp.
Kenya’s State Chemist Reveals Shortage Of Shakahola DNA Test-Kits
