NAIROBI, Kenya Sep 21 – The Kilifi County Government plans to inter 443 bodies and body parts recovered from Shakahola by December, following the completion of investigations by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).Kilifi County Executive Committee Member for Health Peter Mwarogo said the DCI had completed its investigations into the remains and given the county the go-ahead to proceed with the interment.Mwarogo said the 443 bodies currently held at the county facility had been embalmed as the county prepares for their final interment.“DCI have concluded investigations on the bodies. We have embalmed the 443 bodies which are at our base. They have given us the go-ahead for the interment of the bodies,” he said.He said the remains would be interred in a manner that preserves the possibility of identification should families come forward later with information.The county has given families 21 days to identify remains that have not yet been claimed.Mwarogo said 14 bodies have so far been identified by families, with the county having issued a Gazette Notice to facilitate the identification process.“If they will not have identified their bodies in 21 days, we will move to court and dispose them,” he said.The county has urged relatives who believe their loved ones may be among the unidentified remains to come forward within the stipulated period.Mwarogo said the county had already identified land near Shakahola where the remains will be interred.“We have identified a land near Shakahola where the bodies will be interred. By December we will have concluded this matter,” he said.The remains include complete bodies as well as body parts recovered during the extensive exhumation exercise in Shakahola.The county’s announcement follows the completion of the investigative process involving the remains, paving the way for their interment.The handling and identification of the bodies has been part of the wider investigations into the deaths linked to the Shakahola tragedy.The large-scale exhumations in the Shakahola area led to the recovery of hundreds of bodies, triggering a forensic identification process aimed at helping families establish the fate of missing relatives.The county says the planned interment will be conducted in a manner that allows for future identification of the remains.Families yet to identify their relatives have therefore been urged to use the 21-day window before the county proceeds with the next stage of the process.