Brigid Wambui, 57, lives at Railways houses in Ol Joro Orok town, Nyandarua county. On September 28 last year, she was walking home at 7pm not knowing criminals lay in ambush.
As she entered her compound, she was suddenly shoved from behind against a stone wall by criminals who beat her up and left her unconscious.
“My son, with the help of neighbours, picked me and rushed me to Nyahururu county referral hospital. I was referred to Nakuru provincial general hospital where I was admitted for two weeks and underwent a head operation to remove a blood clot,” she says.
To date, the widowed mother of two does not know who attacked her. She does not know if it was a lone criminal or many as things happened so fast that she did not see anyone.
Wambui is lucky that she did not pay the medical bills from her pocket as she could not afford. She is one of 1,000 beneficiaries of NHIF for windows and the vulnerable courtesy of Ol Joro Orok NG-CDF.
Wambui spoke to the Star at the Ol Joro Orok NG-CDF offices on Wednesday. She was among a group of women who witnessed area MP Michael Muchira hand Sh6 million cheque to NHIF for the medical cover of widows this year.
The programme, now in its third year, has made life bearable for the beneficiaries and their dependents.
Tabitha Kibe from Gatimu ward said previously, they did not have the NHIF cards as they could not afford to pay.
“We did not have husbands to support us, but for now, to be honest, we live without worry. We used to cry helplessly at hospitals,” she said.
Ol Joro Orok MP Muchira said the money would go a long way in keeping the beneficiaries healthy especially during the Covid–19 crisis.
The legislator urged the national government to honour the promise to pay NHIF premiums for the less fortunate who benefit from the Inua Jamii cash transfer programme.
Edited by Henry Makori
