CS orders probe into rape claims at Kenyatta National Hospital

Kenyatta National Hospital CEO Lily Koros and Health CS Cleopa Mailu at the hospital on January 19, 2018. The Cabinet secretary said investigations are ongoing on allegations that patients have been raped at the facility. PHOTO | ANTHONY OMUYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The allegations against Kenyatta National Hospital were first made on Facebook, sparking outrage.

  • Kenyatta National Hospital’s chief executive Lily Koros and the doctors’ union said no incident of that nature had been reported.

The Health ministry and authorities at Kenya’s largest referral hospital have ordered an investigation into claims that new mothers at the facility have been raped.

The allegations against Kenyatta National Hospital were first made on Facebook, sparking outrage. However, the hospital’s chief executive Lily Koros and the doctors’ union said no incident of that nature had been reported.

Officials of the Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union said they had reviewed footage from security cameras on the third and ground floors and found nothing suspicious had been captured on Thursday night.

Journalists were, however, not allowed into the hospital to talk to the mothers in the maternity wing on the third floor who were reported to have been targeted in the rape attacks as they go to check on and feed their children at the nursery on the ground floor.

INVESTIGATION

Health Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu ordered an investigation into the incident and asked the hospital administration to beef up security.

“We take this allegations very seriously and will investigate to establish whether they are true or false. We do not intend to take chances with the allegations,” he said, adding that the hospital’s management and security agents will provide a detailed report on Monday.

The allegations, posted in a Facebook group known as Buyer Beware said the hospital is “a hotspot of all kinds of criminal activities”.

A member of the group alleged she had met a woman who fought off a rape attempt in the lift. “The only thing that saved her was her voice. She screamed her attacker off,” she wrote.

CHECK BABY

The rape attempt allegedly took place as the woman proceeded to the nursery to check on her baby.

She also claimed petty theft was rampant in the hospital. “A lady was caught red handed with her hand in another woman’s purse,” she wrote.

Other group members also claimed mortuary attendants would uncover dead bodies to scare the women. “When we met them on the corridors, the attendants would uncover dead bodies on the stretcher or even attempt to rape us,” said another member.

Dr Koros said: “We have not yet received any complaints about attacks on patients. If any patient has been attacked, let them report to us for immediate action.”