Veteran politician and champion of democracy in Kenya Kenneth Matiba will on Friday be cremated at a private ceremony that is already ongoing at the Lang’ata Cemetry Crematorium.

Pulselive.co.ke has undertaken research on the steps that will be followed as the body in interred in line with Matiba’s wishes.

Cremation is usually an elaborate process that takes place for about six to seven hours.

The body is carried in a coffin and placed in the cremation chamber which has a heavy door to avoid heat loss.

Diesel-fuelled

A family member is then selected to light the diesel-fuelled fire.

The temperatures inside the cremation chamber rise to highs of between 1,000 and 2,000 degrees celcius.

The coffin quickly burns down which is then followed by the body drying up from the intense heat.

Next, the heat burns the skin and hair, contracts and chars the muscles, vaporizes the soft tissues, and calcifies the bones so that they eventually crumble.

No Smell

The gases released during the process are discharged through an exhaust system.

There is usually no smell because the emissions are processed to destroy the smoke and vaporize the gases that would smell.

After the cremation has ended, the technician separates some of the unwanted elements such as hinges, nails, and other components of the casket.

The few bones that remain, together with the ash, are then taken to City Mortuary for families to collect in urns.