This archive report was first published on 6 October 2021.
On Sunday, Mr. Manyasa was admitted to the male ward at Butere Sub-County Hospital after suffering a severe bout of malaria. He soon discovered that he would be spending the night with the body of a patient who had died on Saturday, left unattended by medical staff.
Before Mr. Manyasa's arrival, three other patients had to share the ward with the deceased for a night. This was not an isolated incident, as the body of a boy who died on Sunday was also left lying in the paediatric ward.
It was only after Mr. Manyasa posted a video of his ordeal on social media on Monday that the two bodies were collected and taken to the Kakamega County General Hospital mortuary.
Butere Sub-County Hospital has been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, with past allegations of mistreatment of patients and lack of basic facilities. In May 2021, The Nation reported that HIV patients at the hospital were being mistreated, following the death of a man who took his own life after a horrific experience at the hands of medical staff.
His wife revealed that it was the fourth time her husband had been denied drugs and mistreated by health workers. The hospital's administrator, Hillary Kiverenge, attributed the presence of the two bodies in the wards to miscommunication among hospital personnel, but Dr. Collins Matemba expressed his doubts, saying a body that had stayed unattended for two days should have decomposed and been stinking.
