Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko Sends Home Pumwani Hospital Bosses after 12 Infants Die under Unclear Circumstances

Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko has suspended top officials at Pumwani Maternity Hospital including the entire board after bodies of 12 dead infants were found hidden in a room.

Those sent home include the facility's Superintendent Catherine Mutinda, Administrators Zadock Angahya and George Nyadimo and obstetrician gynecologist James Kamau.

The dead bodies were discovered after an impromptu visit by the Governor to the hospital following a tip-off by some patients that the hospital had switched off machines leading to death of several infants.

The corpses were wrapped in plastic bags and stuffed in three carton boxes inside a store, raising further questions on why they had not been transferred to a morgue.

The management was at pain to explain how the bodies ended up in the boxes as opposed to being taken to a mortuary. Mothers said that staff switched off the power in the facility's new-born unit.

“Stern action will be taken against anyone found to be sabotaging the good services offered to our mothers and sisters who come to deliver in this facility,” he warned.

Sonko arrived at the hospital on a boda boda to avoid being noticed and was informed by one of the hospital officials that only one baby had died at the facility in the past 24 hours.

However, after searching the place, 12 bodies were discovered in separate polythene bags – one containing six bodies, another with five and the last with one body.

“All those responsible for this negligence will face full force of the law. I’m not going to allow this to happen to our mothers, they must take responsibility for the deaths,” said Sonko after discovery of the bodies.