Nakuru grave diggers want the county government to consider them when hiring civil servants, for permanent jobs in their trade.
They claimed that what they are doing is very important to the government and the society as a whole and is a high time they should be considered both in the society and in government.
They said what they earn from the families of the dead people is very little and cannot sustain their lives as the cost of living has gone high forcing some of them to stay at the cemetery as they cannot afford to pay rent.
Martin Okech, a grave digger at Nakuru North Cemetery, is among the many who have decided to stay with the dead as he is unable to pay rent.
He said he has been doing the job for over a decade but he has done nothing as what she earns is too little.
He urged the county government to employ them on permanent basis as they have suffered for a long time.
"What we earn is very small, the fact that has forced me to stay here as I cannot afford to rent a house. We want the county government to employ us on permanent basis as what we are doing is very important both to the government and the society,” he said.
Moses Mburu, another grave digger, said the government should consider them when hiring the servants.
He said without them, things could be worse, and noted that digging graves does not mean they are cursed but it is their way of surviving.
Mburu said they earn peanuts but they have nothing else to do.
“I have nowhere to call home other than the cemetery. We cook and sleep in the cemetery due to our poor earnings as we cannot afford a house or a family,” he said.
He urged the county government to employ them as civil servants and pay them a salary that will improve their lives.