Allegations of Rape on New Mothers Put Kenyatta National Hospital on the Spot

Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), Kenya’s largest referral hospital, is on the spot over claims of rape on mothers who have recently given birth at the facility.

Victims say the inhumane act is mostly done by mortuary attendants as the mothers make their way to the nurseries, situated on a different ward from the maternity to breastfeed their children after every two hours.

Taking to Facebook on Friday, one the victims laid bare the dark happenings at the Hospital.

“Security is a big issue especially for mothers whose kids are in the nursery. The nurseries are on the ground floor and the mothers on the third floor. Today met a lady who was nearly raped,” she wrote.

She added: “The lady had gone to breastfeed her baby at about 3am. Only thing that saved her the rape ordeal was her voice, Never mind this is someone who had her twins via cesarian and has barely healed. Such vulnerable mothers need protection.”

Another mother, who spoke to the Star confirmed that the incidents are not a new thing at the facility. “Rape in KNH hasn’t started today. Those mums with kids in the nursery go through a mess. They get raped by the mortuary attendants who collect bodies from wards,” she lamented.

“It’s very stressful especially when you are bleeding and having stitches down there and you can’t even run for your safety,” another mother said.

In a statement on Friday, Health Cabinet Secretary Cleopa Mailu CS ordered for speedy investigation into the claims and directed the hospital’s management to provide adequate security for its patients.

However, Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Lily Koros dismissed the allegations, stating that the hospital has put in place an elaborate security system to safeguard patients.

“Considering that mothers are in numbers, that tells you that they usually move in groups and I want to clarify this, they move in groups not because of insecurity but because of the scheduled timings and we have almost a hundred mothers in the hospital. Mortuary attendants as well as uniformed, operate in pairs and collect bodies as guided by a coordinating office that receives reports on any deaths during the night. The mortuary attendants use service lifts, which are separate from the lifts that are used by patients and clients.”

“We have mothers in ground floor and they’re going to first floor, we have them in third floor and they’re going to first floor; the possibility yes, could be there but I think the proximity if you want to look at it is really minimal.”

She has also sought to paint as unlikely the narrative that morgue attendants terrorise mothers on hospital hallways in the dead of night. “For the mortuary attendants I want to say that like any other employee of this hospital every individual is vetted. Before you’re employed, you actually have to come with a good conduct certificate.”

Koros also said it was improbable but not impossible that homeless persons seeking shelter in the hospital under the guise of illness preyed on the vulnerable women.

“I’m very sure you’ve seen the security going round often, to ask whether the persons who are seated there, are actually patients or they’re people who are from outside but let’s also appreciate that this is a public institution that you may not entirely bar people from coming in; you don’t know who is sick and who is not sick.”

Nonetheless, Koros called on anyone who encounters any incident to report through the hospital’s hotline number 0722-825-599 or facility’s customer care, security desks and suggestion boxes.

“Of course we did a scan though (the CCTV footage) which cannot be comprehensive so there is nothing we are actually putting under the carpet… up to where we are right now, there is not a single complaint that has been registered on such a case. Not a single one and we have suggestion boxes in the whole hospital. In fact there are four of them addressed to the CEO and I open them personally. We have addressed other concerns and complaints in the past, this one has never arisen,” added Koros.