Moshi. The body of an infant that went missing from the mortuary at Kilimanjaro Regional Hospital, Mawenzi, has been found after it was mistakenly taken and buried elsewhere on Monday, April 13, this year.
The body of the child, Doreen Edward, aged three months, is alleged to have been taken from the hospital on April 13, 2026, and buried by another family in Mbokomu Ward, Moshi District, whose own child had died at the same hospital.
The child, who was born on January 6 this year, died on April 10 at the hospital where she had been admitted with breathing complications, after which her body was preserved in the hospital mortuary.
On Monday, April 13, this year, after completing burial arrangements, the family arrived at the hospital to collect the child’s body for burial, but upon reaching the mortuary, they failed to find their child’s body and instead found the body of another infant that did not belong to them.
Following the confusion over the disappearance of the body, the family, which had already finalized burial arrangements, including digging a grave at Mieresini area, was unable to conduct the burial on that day and was forced to refill the grave while frantically searching for the body.
Doreen Edward’s mother bids farewell to her child’s body after it was recovered ON Wednesday, April 15, 2026. The infant’s body had been mistakenly buried by another family in Mbokomu Village after bodies were mixed up at the mortuary at Mawenzi Referral Regional Hospital. PHOTO|OMBENI DANIEL
Later, the family said hospital management asked them to remain patient as investigations were carried out to determine what had happened, and subsequently informed them that another infant’s body had been taken that day and buried.
However, after follow-up, the body that had been taken on April 13 and buried in Mbokomu was later confirmed to have been mistakenly taken from the hospital.
Due to the confusion, police in the region sought a court order and proceeded to exhume the body today, April 15, 2026, and after exhumation, it was confirmed that the body had been mistakenly buried. The exhumed body was then handed over to Doreen’s family for burial.
Meanwhile, the infant’s body that had been preserved at Mawenzi mortuary was handed over to the family that had mistakenly buried the wrong body, and the body was buried today (Wednesday, April 15) in Mbokomu Ward in the grave from which Doreen’s body had been exhumed.
So far, hospital management, despite requesting time to investigate what happened, has not issued an official explanation regarding the incident.
Doreen’s body buried for the second time in Himo
After the family received the infant’s body, it was taken to her parents’ home at Njia Panda area in Himo for final rites, and the body was buried today, Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at Mieresini Cemetery located in Himo, Moshi District.
Preaching during the burial service, Sporah Njau of Pentecostal Church Njia Panda, Himo, expressed condolences to the family, saying that everything happens for a reason and urging the family to accept the situation in faith.
Relatives lower a coffin containing the body of Doreen Edward into the grave at Mieresini Cemetery in Himo Township, Moshi District, Kilimanjaro Region, after her body was recovered today following exhumation from Mbokomu Ward on Wednesday, April 15, 2026, where it had been mistakenly buried due to a mortuary mix-up at Mawenzi Referral Regional Hospital. PHOTO | OMBEN DANIEL
“God did not close His eyes; He was present, but in all this, we should not carry blame in our hearts. We want to fulfil God’s purpose because God cannot allow such an event to occur without a reason,” she said.
Speaking, the child’s mother, Ms Neema Paulo (35), thanked the government for the cooperation shown to her from the moment the problem emerged until the body of her child was found and properly laid to rest.
“I thank the government. From the moment I lost my child’s body, they stood with me until we found her body, and today we have laid her to rest in her eternal home,” said the mother.
Speaking on behalf of the Njia Panda Ward councillor, Ms Suzan Msangi, said the government stands with the family and that what occurred was a human error.
Family that buried the wrong child speaks out
Speaking, the father of a family that buried a child who didn’t belong to them, Mr George Mrema, said the family arrived at the hospital and was handed their child’s body on Saturday, April 11, 2026, before proceeding to bury it in their Mbokomu Village.
Mr Mrema said that on Friday, April 10, 2026, he took his wife to Mawenzi Hospital for delivery, where at around 9 pm she underwent surgery and delivered twin boys, but he was informed that one of them had died.
He added that the following day, Saturday, April 11, 2026, he went to the mortuary to collect the child’s body for burial and was handed the body he was told belonged to his child.
However, due to shock and grief, he did not manage to inspect the body before taking it to the village, where it was buried the same day.
“I was handed a body that I was told was my child. Because of the shock and pain of losing a child, I did not inspect it and took it directly to the village for burial,” said Mr Mrema.
He added that on Monday, April 13, 2026, at around 1 pm, he received a phone call from the hospital informing him that there had been an error and that the body he had buried was not his child but a baby girl, while his own child was a boy.
A coffin containing the body of baby Doreen Edward. PHOTO | OMBEN DANIEL
A family friend, Ms Bertha Mrema, claimed that on the burial day, when they asked to see the body, they were prevented because the deceased was too young to be viewed.
“We did not uncover the child or examine what gender the child was. The clothes that came from the mortuary were the same ones, with additional cloth placed on top (kitenge), and then the child was buried,” said Ms Mrema.
