Woman in Bungoma hospital saga says she was told to recant story

By ROBERT WANYONYI

Bungoma, KENYA: The woman who was captured on camera delivering on the floor in Bungoma District Hospital was on Friday picked by the institution’s staff to allegedly recant her story.

Claims were ripe the hospital management had coached her on what to tell the media on the incident. And when The Standard on Sunday traced Josephine Majani to her rural home in Matungu, Kakamega County, on Saturday, she was missing and neighbours said doctors from the hospital had picked her the previous day.

The crew finally caught up with her at an estate in Bungoma town. Her husband, Ramadhan Majani, who at first denied The Standard on Sunday team an interview with her, eventually gave in and said:  “It’s true she was taken to the hospital yesterday and I was even quarrelling her why she did that without informing me. She later told me the doctors wanted her to assist them recant a story that had been running all over media houses,” said Ramadhan.

Mrs Majani, who was in the house breastfeeding her one-month-old baby, said she couldn’t remember having been mistreated at the hospital, but after she was shown the raw video footage of nurses slapping her as she lay motionless on the floor, she emotionally opened up.

God forgive them

“If this is actually what those nurses did to me after I had passed out, then may God forgive them. I had been coached to disown what is being shown here but it is all clear now before my own eyes,” she said.

She said after the doctors took her back to the hospital, she was given a prepared statement that she read out to a local FM Station denying having ever been mistreated at the hospital.

“I didn’t know what happened but after watching this, my appeal is to the Government to take action against those who mistreated me. This will send a message to their type in other public hospitals,” she said.

However, Dr George Wanzala of Bungoma District Hospital, who is in charge of the investigation into the matter, said they did not coach her on what to say, but wanted to hear from her what actually transpired as part of the probe.

“We are sorry we didn’t inform the husband in time. This might have made him believe we were coaching the wife. This is not true. We are on top of the investigations and we merely wanted to hear the mother’s side of the story. Which is greatly assisting us,” he said.

He further appealed to members of the public not to fear visiting the hospital for services, saying that was an isolated case.

Following the KTN expose, three nurses who were on duty on the night of August 9, when the incident happened, have been suspended to pave way for investigations as more Kenyans continued to condemn the incident.