Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko Mbuvi on Monday made an impromptu visit to Pumwani Hospital and found 12 corpses of infants hidden in boxes and not in a mogue.
Governor Sonko acted on a tip off after a member of the public alerted him of events at the hospital on Monday morning. He visisted the hospital on a boda boda catching the management offgurd. He went a head to stream his findings live on Facebook.
“Conducting impromptu visit at Pumwani Hospital, where it’s alleged by members of the public that the management shut down the machines at the Maternity Wing, leading to loss of lives of young ones,” he said during the raid.
The management was at pains to explain the circumstances under which the bodies were stuffed inside the boxes.
At first, one of the officers told the governor that only one baby had died in the last 24 hours.
But Mr Sonko insisted he had credible information that there were more. He then ordered one of the workers to open the boxes where six more were found. Buoyed, the county boss asked the man to open another box where five more bodied were found.
After the raid, Mr Sonko alerted senior police officers to look into the matter. The maternity facility, run by the Nairobi City County, has been in the news for all the wrong reasons. In the past, it hit headlines over theft of babies, alleged negligence, poor services and maltreatment of women in labour.
On social media Kenyans speculated the reason for hiding bodies in cartons;
Shazzy Achieng · I think this guys keep the bodies to trick mothers that the baby is dead, may God forgive them
Bosire Collins Sonko, kindly, they say they are from the ward, Run DNA tests of the 12 with alleged mothers and you’ll uncover a greater scandal of live baby switching with dead ones.
Vincent Mongare: Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko made an impromptu visit to Pumwani Maternity Hospital today and found 12 dead bodies of infants hidden in boxes. These bodies are used by the hospital staff to exchange with children who are alive then sell them. You give birth, they take the baby, then tell you your baby is dead, you demand to see the dead baby, they go pick one of those bodies and bring to you. Am however at pains to understand how coincidentally it happened that Sonko just walked to Pumwani and found the bodies. I rarely trust Sonko.
Lydia Ngaira: The infant trade-in business at Pumwani finally brought to light, watched the Sonko video as he paid an impromptu visit at the Hospital, its like a horror movie.
Oh! mothers, to all expectant mothers, always make sure you have someone accompanying you to the labour wards , know that if they wont trade your baby for a dead one, they will exchange because of the sex of the baby.
Governor Mike Sonko. hats off on this one, you have saved most mothers a great deal.
Apong Kor Uncalled for bravado! In a hospital you expect dead bodies. There are set times that dead bodies areferried to mortuary. Sonko is interfering with medical processes.
Patrick Muli Investigations should commence immediately to know they keep those bodies ,we know well they sell babies and the reason for keeping dead ones is maintain stock to exchange with the live ones
Nicholas Ikua I think those infant bodies are brought in in exchange of the live ones….after the mother gives birth the baby is taken away and the mother will b told the child died.
NAIROBI GOVERNOR Sonko dissolves Pumwani Hospital board after he discovered 12 corpses of infants hidden in boxes; three senior staff suspended. pic.twitter.com/DKhZLvc8m1
— NationBreakingNews (@NationBreaking) September 17, 2018