Heartbreak for family as baby's body vanishes

Five mortuary attendants have been dismissed and two others suspended following the mysterious disappearance of the body of a seven-month-old baby from the Nakuru Level Five Hospital mortuary.

Nakuru County Secretary and Head of Public Service Dr. Samuel Mwaura, while confirming the dismissal, said the decision was reached following an internal disciplinary process.

“The hospital, through internal disciplinary action, recommended the dismissal of five staff,” said Mwaura.

Mwaura said they have been in communication with the family of the baby and the police to speed up investigations.

“On behalf of the County Government, we sincerely apologise. We have been in communication with the family and the police to speed up the investigation so that we have a closure. We will add more interpreters at the hospital to help with communication,” said Mwaura.

The deaf community yesterday held protests in Nakuru over the missing body.

Mercy Chepng’eno, whose parents are deaf, has been seeking answers from the county government and the police without getting a substantive answer for two weeks now.

Speaking through an interpreter the baby’s father Daniel Kipchirchir expressed his disappointment and blamed the police whom he felt were hindering their path to justice adding that they have been frustrated by the case as there is no positive feedback from them.

“I feel the detectives are frustrating us with this case because we are vulnerable. I haven’t gotten any feedback from the police or even the hospital management. They are treating us like animals, yet we have a right,” he said.

He added, “The Ministry of Health thinks that because we are deaf, they will treat us like children and think that we won’t do anything. We will protest until they give us our baby. We also need respect as the deaf people,” he said.

Winnie Odanga, an aunt to the baby, was inconsolable as she explained the frustrations her deaf sister went through when they went to collect the body at the hospital, saying that the hospital management mistreated her because she could not speak.

“I accompanied them when they went to collect the body and witnessed how they were mishandled. I had to storm the mortuary for them to tell us the truth; we had waited for six hours,” Odanga said.

Martin Njoroge, a member of the deaf community who was part of the protesters, expressed his disappointment in the way the hospital handled the deaf couple, he urged the management to employ at least two interpreters to help the deaf community when they visit the hospital for easy communication.

We have three official languages: English, Kiswahili, and sign language. We need to have at least two interpreters at the facility. For example, for this couple, nobody even told them what their child was ailing from. We also need good service, “Njoroge stated.

The protesters who marched through Kenyatta Avenue stormed Governor Susan Kihika’s office, demanding answers as to why the county officials have not addressed the matter and nobody has been held accountable despite the numerous complaints from the public.

They later delivered a petition through human rights activist Muna Mwinyi, which was received by the county secretary on behalf of the governor. The county secretary promised to act on the issues raised in the petition, including adding more interpreters at the facility to ease communication for deaf patients and other persons living with various disabilities.