A woman mourning the death of her baby was on Thursday, February 14, forced to carry the corpse for about 5 kilometres to City mortuary after a hospital failed to help transport it.
Immaculate Auma had to trek from Mbagathi Hospital, where her six-month-old baby died to a police post at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), where she was required to file a notification.
She was then forced to walk while still carrying her lifeless baby to City Mortuary where attendants kept her waiting for hours, the Standard reported.
Accompanied by her mother, Linet Atieno, the two women took turns in holding the baby's body for three hours as they waited to be attended to.
“We came at around 10.30am and did not find anyone, so we sat on the bench,” said Atieno.
It took the intervention of journalists and human rights activists waiting for the Caroline Mwatha's postmortem to have the body booked.
“What if she was traumatised and got knocked by a vehicle while walking to this place?" one of the activists posed.
After a push and pull between the mortuary attendants who are said to be on strike and the human rights activists, one of the workers offered to help Auma.
“They took my child, but they did not put him in a fridge yet. I just hope that the body will be well preserved,” she said.
Auma is said to have first taken her son to Shofco Health Centre in Kibra on Tuesday, February 12, where he was diagnosed with pneumonia.
“He was breathing heavily, and even though I bought some of the drugs that were prescribed, there was not much improvement,” she said.
She was advised to take the child to Mbagathi Hospital after his condition worsened but unfortunately, he died while being attended to
The distraught mother claimed she only had KSh 200 which she used to a pay a bodaboda rider to Mbagathi Hospital and only covered the corpse with a shawl while walking to the mortuary,
The hospital is yet to comment on the same.