A photo of an attendant at Nairobi's City Mortuary. [PHOTO/the-star.co.ke]

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Morticians are an angry lot after NTSA allegedly said they will punish drunk drivers by deploying them to work in morgues.

Speaking after the Monday pronouncements, chairman of the National Funeral Services Association of Kenya Ezra Olack said reports of such kind of punishment must be taken as a joke.

Olack said the remarks were degrading their profession. 

"Stop demeaning our profession. The work we do is very important," he said on Tuesday as reported by the Star.

"We have codes of ethics and conduct that all our staff have to abide by. This is not something we do while abusing substances," he added.

The chairman said NTSA should seek other means of punishment instead of forcing people to do the job against their will. 

"We are not going to allow people to come and ruin our profession. The person who said that must have been joking. But if he was not joking, those who will be told to work in funeral homes can sue him," Olak said.

"People think mortuary attendants are rejects and drug addicts. People go to school and learn how to take care of dead bodies," he added.