Man held for seeking ‘blood bribe’

The intern at the Kisumu East District Hospital arrested for allegedly demanding a bribe from a patient to speed up a blood transfusion process. [Photo: Collins Oduor/Standard]

By Hezron Ochiel

Kisumu, Kenya: A man was nabbed in Kisumu for allegedly demanding a bribe from a blood transfusion patient.

The Ethics and Anti Corruption Commission (EACC) officers nabbed him for soliciting money from the patient, who needed a blood transfusion. The intern, at Kisumu East District Hospital, was caught in a cafe after residents reported the matter to the EACC officers.

The suspect reportedly demanded a bribe even after the patient’s relatives had donated blood for their patient. The officers said the suspect approached a family who were in need of blood and allegedly demanded a bribe to speed up the process.

“There were delays in the transfusion process and when the relatives asked, they were told it was difficult to get it done even after they had donated blood,” Charles Rasugu, the EACC Kisumu regional manager said.

Even after the patient had received the blood and was discharged, the intern continued pursuing Sh25,000, forcing the family to alert EACC officers.

few units

“We laid a trap and caught him taking the bribe from the family. We arrested him,” Rasugu said.

He said the suspect would be arraigned in court and charged once investigations were complete.

The arrest comes barely a week after two women and six babies died at the Siaya Referral Hospital due to lack of blood for transfusions.

The hospital’s Medical Superintendent Jacktone Omotto said though they get blood from Kisumu, their requisition from the regional headquarters had not yielded fruits since the blood bank had few units.

The deaths notwithstanding, other patients are also staring death in the face as they cannot be taken to theatre for surgery because a blood shortage looms in the county referral hospital.