A family from Kibochi village in Webuye Bungoma County is demanding answers after their daughter gave birth to a baby boy at Webuye County Hospital but died hours later.
Speaking to the press on Thursday, Joseph Mugai, father, said that his wife gave birth on Saturday at the facility.
Mugai told Journalists that, he received the information about the death of his baby while at home saying that he made efforts to reach the facility to find out what had happened.
“The passing on of my newly born baby was stressful to me because I have taken care of my wife since conception,” he added.
However, Mugai alleges that the information that the hospital management is giving is contradicting calling on Webuye County Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr. Simon Kisaka to move with speed and look deeper into the matter.
“I am unhappy that I have lost my baby, to curb such incidences happening to other clients in future, the facility management should act so that they know what went wrong,” Mugai noted.
He says that the nurses who attended to his wife while in the process of giving birth revealed that his wife was unconscious after delivery.
“The doctors who were attending to my wife informed me that my wife was unconscious after giving birth,” he said.
Rose Kadi, Mugai’s mother, said that after the family got a distress call from the hospital informing them that the baby had passed on.
Kadi notes that she prepared relatives who would receive the body of her grandson for burial stating that according to the Bukusu tradition, the body of a newborn should not stay for long.
However, Kadi revealed that immediately after the family buried the body, they received a commanding phone call from Webuye County hospital instructing them not to bury the body on allegations that it belonged to another woman who gave birth at the same facility.
She said that body exhumation was done on Wednesday.
She added that within a short time, police officers from Webuye arrived at the home where the body had been buried and exhumed it claiming that they had been sent by the hospital management with a court order.
Kadi said that the police officers could not listen to her as they were very fast.
The family now alleges that the hospital is playing a hide-and-seek game calling on them to shed light on what happened.
“I don’t have money to facilitate my daughter-in-law to travel to Kisumu for a DNA test as my son is also jobless, the government should help me, even though my daughter-in-law is still in pain,” she said.
Health and Sanitation CEC Dr Andrew Wamalwa asked the affected family to be calm as the hospital tries to sort the issue out.
“I have not yet received formal communication from the facility but what I can say is that the affected family should be calm as we sort out the issue,” Wamalwa said.
To improve efficiency and service at health facilities, Bungoma governor Kenneth Lusaka has sent a stern warning to the county health management to put their house in order or else face the sack.
Lusaka paraded the CEC Health Andrew Wamalwa, chief officer Magrima Mayama and health Director Caleb Watta warning them to stop their unending internal wrangles that were compromising service delivery.
"We wouldn't be talking about the rot in health if the CEC and his chief officer were doing their work, if they are not going to change their operations and work to improve service delivery then I'll be forced to remove them from office," Lusaka said.
He noted that the health docket has been posting an outstanding performance in previous years attributing the current situation to the rift between the CEC and his chief officer.
“This was the best-performing ministry but unfortunately the formation of cartels and rivalry among top officers has taken it back. I am giving them an ultimatum that I want to see change in the next few days or face the music,” Lusaka said.
"I hear there are now two camps in the health department, those supporting the CEC and others supporting the Chief Officer, this has to stop because it creates cataclysm in the ministry, “he said.
“I want to tell you before the public and in broad daylight, that your internal wrangles and profiling of staff are behind the woes bedevilling this ministry, this is the last time I am warning you to either immediately change or face the sack,” added the county boss.
Lusaka intimated that the feuding officers had formed parallel groups and cartels that had negatively impacted the ministry.
The county boss also warned other health staff against joining cartels saying their days are numbered.
“Woe unto you who have formed cartels because I have narrowed down on you and you will soon be jobless,” Lusaka noted.
