A family living in a mud-walled house at Mwakio village, Shimba Hills, needs Sh4 million to bury their relative.

Samson Munyao's body is being held at Kijabe Mortuary where daily costs are Sh2,700.

The distressed family sold all their property to pay medical expenses.

But two months since Munyao died, the bill is escalating.

Widow Faith Samson said, "We pleaded with the management to give us our beloved one, promising to pay them at intervals but they refused. They insisted we find money quickly because the more we delay, the more the bill shoots up,” she told reporters. 

Raised some money through harambees but not enough.

Munyao developed mobility problems in August last year and his conditioned worsened by mid-October when he went to a herbal clinic in Mombasa.

He had arthritis and breathing problems.

“After the clinic, my husband had pneumonia, his lungs used to swell, he couldn’t breathe freely. Sometimes he passed out," she said.

He was taken to Msambweni Referral Hospital for tests that cost more than Sh300,000. He didn't get better.

The family sold their land and livestock and went to Pandya Memorial Hospital in Mombasa.

Specialists said his spine was fractured at the base of his neck, damaging tissues and causing his problems.

He was referred to  AgaKhan hospital where surgery cost Sh450,000.

On April 4 this year he was taken to Kijabe and they paid an admission fee of Sh300,000.

Munyao died in August while recovering from the surgery.

His brother Samson said his brother was a loving and God-fearing and doesn’t deserve such hostility.

The family hopes that one day they will be ab le to bury him.

SHABAN OMAR/The Star