A surprise visit by Nairobi Governor Mike Sonko, to a hospital in the Kenyan Capital on Monday led to the discovery of 12 dead babies hidden in cardboard boxes after apparent negligence.
A doctor and two other staff members at Pumwani Maternity Hospital in eastern Nairobi have since been suspended, the governor said on Twitter, where he also posted a video of the hospital inspection.
“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,’’ Sonko said on Facebook.
The governor said in another social media post that the infants had died “mysteriously’’. It was not clear when or why the infants died.
The governor, wearing street clothes, arrived unannounced at the facility via motorcycle taxi, Kenyan media reported, after he got a tip-off from members of the public.
On arrival, the governor found the hospital operating without an obstetrician-gynaecologist as the one scheduled that day had night
Following a harsh exchange of words with some of the hospital staff, who said only one baby had died, the governor and his team uncovered the bodies of 12 infants.
Kenyan hospitals are often in the news for malpractice.
Earlier this year, doctors at one Kenyan hospital performed brain surgery on the wrong patient.
There have also been allegations of rapes occurring at some hospitals.