Kenya’s top referral hospital has been put on the spot over rape claims of mothers made against its workers.
The
allegations sparked nationwide outrage on Friday after a Facebook user
accused the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) of being "a hotspot of all
kinds of criminal activities".
Ms Mildred Owiso posted
on a page called Buyers Beware that new mothers were being targeted on
their way to the nursery, on a different floor, to breastfeed their
newborn babies.
Ms Owiso alleged that she recently met a mother who was nearly raped.
“The only thing that saved her was her voice. She screamed her attacker off,” she wrote.
She further claimed petty theft was rampant at the facility.
"A lady dressed in Christian regalia was caught red-handed with her hand in another woman's purse," she wrote.
Her posts attracted many Facebook users who said they had been victims or knew someone who had been attacked at the hospital.
Many
claimed that mortuary attendants harassed the women along the corridors
to or from the newborn unit, which is located on the first floor,
especially at night.
The claims were however refuted by KNH staff and management.
Lamech, a security officer at the facility, questioned why the alleged sexual abuse went unreported.
"How
can rape take place in such an open place where so many people are
always passing and witnesses fail to say it?” He posed, adding that
“these allegations are part of a smear campaign targeting the
management”.
Mirroring his remarks, the hospital’s
chief executive Dr Lily Koros denied that mothers are sexually abused at
the facility terming the allegations as “damning and untrue and
authored in bad faith”.
She added that members of public of goodwill need to ignore.
"We
have not yet received any complaints about attacks on patients. If any
has been attacked, let them report to us for immediate action," she
said.
Mothers are admitted in the maternity wards on ground floor or the paediatric wards on third floor, according to the hospital.
“KNH
has 24 hours CCTV surveillance in the lifts, and along the corridors
leading to all the wards including the newborn unit,” Dr Koros said,
adding that a security team that includes uniformed officers patrols the
hospital day and night.
She said babies at the nursery
are breastfed in three-hourly intervals including at night and that the
mothers "usually walk in groups."
“Mortuary attendants
are uniformed, operate in pairs and collect bodies as guided by the
coordinating office that receives reports on any deaths during the
night. The attendants use service lifts which are separate from the
lifts used by clients.”
The hospital management said it has contacted the Director of Criminal Investigations to probe the matter.
The
Ministry of Health’s Cabinet Secretary Dr Cleopa Mailu has ordered an
investigation and asked the hospital’s administration to beef up
security.
Terming the reports “alarming” the ministry ordered KNH to provide a detailed report on Monday, January 22.
"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," Dr Mailu tweeted.
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