MP demands probe on the death of two mothers, babies

Nyandarua Woman rep Faith Gitau. [File, Standard]

The Nyandarua County government has been asked to explain what led to the death of two mothers and their newborn babies at two hospitals last week.

Nyandarua Woman Representative Faith Gitau accused authorities of "total negligence" and called for a thorough investigation into the matter.

One of the mothers and her baby died at JM Kariuki Hospital on Christmas Day, while the other died two days later at Engineer County Referral Hospital during delivery.

Speaking at Ol-Joro Orok when she was distributing foods and other goodies to the elderly and persons with disabilities, the lawmaker gave Governor Francis Kimemia a one-week ultimatum to explain to the people of Nyandarua what led to the deaths.

"We have information that they lost their lives due to negligence by the doctors and nurses at the two hospitals. The governor must come out and explain to us what happened since he is the county boss," said Gitau.

She said this was not the first case of negligence to be reported at the two hospitals.

However, county Health Executive Njenga Mungai said the health officers who were on duty on those respective days at the two health facilities had been suspended for three months, pending investigations to ascertain the cause of the deaths.