A Bungoma family is demanding answers from Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) after it was found that their kin was buried without their consent.
Sabenzia Killong’s family said that the health facility admitted to burying the deceased at Lang’ata Cemetery after months of a grueling search.
“We, the Killong family have received a media response from the Kenyatta National Hospital concerning the sickness, death and burial of our late daughter/sister Sabenzia Chepkesis Killong, commonly known as Spe, Sape, or Spencier, with shock and disbelief,” said Brian Killong.
Initially, the referral hospital had denied admission of the woman.
According to Brian, their kin who worked as a hawker in Nairobi, disappeared in December 2020 just before Christmas.
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“We visited Kenyatta several times looking for her both manually and in their records and they told us that they did not admit anyone by that description,” the bereaved family said.
Things took another turn when the DCI traced Sabenzia’s phone at the hospital. Detectives told the family that the deceased had been admitted at the facility but under unclear circumstances.
On Sunday, however, Dr Evans Kamuri, the KNH CEO, said Sabenzia had been admitted at the facility but under a different name.
“We would like to clarify that the deceased was admitted [to] the hospital under Sabenzia Kilong and not Spencier Kilong,” said Dr Kamuri.
During her stay at the facility, the hospital said, they searched for her family. She died on December 28.
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“The Public Health Act Cap 242 allows hospitals to dispose unclaimed bodies after 10 days. However, KNH extends the waiting period by 11 days making it a total of 21 days,” the statement added.
The body lay in waiting for four months and was released for interment on April 27, 2021.
“We understand the immense loss and emotional toll the death of a loved one causes, and we would like to extend our sincere condolences to the family of Sebenzia Kollong.
“While we remain open and invite any further information, at present all indications are that the hospital followed all due procedure in admission, hospital care, farewell admission and finally burial of this patient.”
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