The Senate has opened a probe into claims that author Ken Walibora died after medics at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) refused to attend to him.
Walibora was rushed to KNH in a Nairobi County government ambulance after he was hit by a matatu while crossing Landhies Road in Nairobi CBD on Friday, April 10th.
He allegedly remained unattended from 10.30 am to about midnight when he passed away, Citizen TV reported. Walibora had been reported missing since April 10th before his lifeless body was found at KNH mortuary on Wednesday, April 15th.
The Senate, through Twitter on Friday, said the House Health Committee has launched an inquiry into reports that the ‘Siku Njema’ author was neglected at KNH.
“The Senate Committee on Health, chaired by Senator Michael Mbito (Trans Nzoia County) has considered reports of the alleged negligence of the late Prof Ken Walibora at the emergency unit of Kenyatta National Hospital. The committee resolved to meet the CEO (Dr. Evanson Kamuri) on Monday (April 27) as inquiry leading to his death sets off,” the Senate said.
A postmortem examination done by Chief Government Pathologist Dr. Johansen Oduor revealed that Walibora had a deep cut between his thumb and index finger. Oduor observed that the cut was not as a result of the motor vehicle accident.
In addition, two teeth were missing and he had a blood clot in his head. “He had a cracked jaw on his right side, his right hand was broken and also he had a clot on his right side of the head, and he had lost two teeth all these are common with a motor vehicle accident,” said Oduor.
“He had a wound cut caused by a sharp knife on the space between his thumb and the index finger which is not familiar with motor vehicle accidents.”
Eyewitnesses told Citizen TV that Walibora was being chased after by a group of people and was knocked down by a bus in the process. “Alikuja akikimbizwa na machokoraa akavuka ya kwanza ya pili akagongwa na gari,” a witness said.
Walibora was laid to rest on April 22nd at his home in Cherangany, Trans-Nzoia County in absence of his widow Ann Chebet and his two children Sheila Zawadi and Katila Samba, who all live in the US. The three could not travel to Kenya for his burial due to travel restrictions prompted by the global outbreak of Covid-19.
This is surely heartbreaking…
This is surely heartbreaking. My cousin died the exact same way back in 2008. He was hit by a city hopper and a good Samaritan took him to knh and was left unattended for hours.
I hope this will shed light…
I hope this will shed light to others that are not celebrity like ken who go un attended for hours and die un attended..
Everyone knows this happened…
Everyone knows this happened with lots of people. It’s not just at KNH, it’s spread all over. The Senate should not pretend they just discovered this kind of treatment from almost all our hospitals. The first thing they ask for is a deposit. If no one can provide one, you are toast. You are as good as dead. Our private hospitals are way worse. They don’t admit before you pay a deposit. They don’t discharge until you pay their bloated charges to the last cent. We have a broken health system that affects us all except our leaders/ politicians and their families. Is that why they rush abroad whenever they feel sick at our expense? What we need from Parliament is not a probe, we need legislation that says: No one should be reduced treatment for whatever reasons. Legislation that guarantees health care for all. Hospitals should have social workers who assess the capacity of each patient to pay and who should be assisted by the government. We should never lose a life because someone can not afford to be treated. Stop wasting your time probing. Pass legislation. Btw, Mr. President, what happened to the big 4? Healthcare was one. Or, should we wait until you are out of office? How many more Kenyans should die when you and your parliament watch?
There is a problem at…
There is a problem at Kenyatta national hospital. All those who work there are heartless. My son died in the same way last year. He was taken there and was unattended from 8pm and he died at 8am. Twelve hours in pain at the casualty. The government should do something about those ‘doctors and nurses’.