RUNDU – The Rundu Intermediate Hospital is making arrangements to conduct a pauper burial this month to get rid of some of the corpses that have not been identified and remained uncollected and unburied in the hospital mortuary for over five years.

There are about five adults and 11 foetuses or those below a year.
“Our office [is] organising the burial, which we plan to have on 17 March at 9am. The site of the burial will be communicated in due course, as the responsibility of the venue or cemetery is yet to be communicated by the Rundu Town Council; they are responsible of digging the grave,” said Andreas Kuwema from the Rundu Intermediate Hospital.

According to the hospital’s administration, they have over the years given countless announcements through the national radio, urging people to go to the hospital to possibly identify these corpses but that proved futile. That has led them to undertake pauper burials at this stage as a last resort.

“In our mortuary, we have corpses of foetuses and adults who have been here for long; the foetus have been left by the mothers – some of the bodies were of patients who died while in the hospital, and some are those collected by the police after being found dead but no family came to claim them,” Kuwema added.
Angel Funeral Services in Rundu volunteered to offer coffins for free as part of its social responsibility programme. 
– jmuyamba@nepc.com.na