Kisii Governor Simba Arati has fired two mortuary attendants over alleged sabotage at the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital mortuary.
The visibly angry governor directed that the two attendants be escorted out of the facility by security officers over what he termed sabotage of the county government.
“These two men were in charge of this facility. They switched off the cold room machines leading to the decay of bodies. They did this in partnership with some saboteurs who are busy fighting me politically,” said Mr Arati.
Medics say it is not clear why the bodies preserved at the mortuary were last week decaying to an extent of growing maggots yet there are many ways of preserving them.
If the cold rooms had failed to function, the attendants could have used chemicals like formalin which are available in the hospital.
He added, “Even the dead deserve respect. We cannot be politicking with the dead. We will all die at one time, but even in our death, we will need to be accorded respect,” said the first-term governor.
He added that his administration had in the past week launched investigations into allegations that the mortuary which is deemed to be one of the best public facilities in the Nyanza region had collapsed.
“I apologise to the affected families. You brought the bodies of your loved ones here for care but what you received in return is really shocking. This is because those entrusted to do their job chose sabotage, just to paint me as a failure,” he said.
The ODM governor said his administration had established that the mortuary attendants could only preserve bodies in the cold rooms after receiving bribes from bereaved families.
“These families are already affected and you go further to fleece them the little they have been left with? That is unacceptable,” said Mr Arati, adding that another attendant was recently sacked after being found stealing chemicals used in preserving bodies including formalin and body bags.
In a more shocking revelation, the governor noted that the attendants were refrigerating the bodies without bothering to remove the clothing on them.
“They stored the dead just as they had received them from the hospital. They could not even bother to remove the clothes or blankets covering them,” said Mr Arati in what he termed as the highest level of negligence by the mortuary attendants.
“We want to decongest this facility and unfortunately we may not receive more bodies for now until we clear the mess created here,” said Mr Arati.
He said he had set aside Sh2 million for the renovation of the old mortuary which will henceforth be used to preserve unclaimed bodies.
“Bodies brought in by police will henceforth be stored in the old mortuary. This is to avoid the congestion we are witnessing here today,” said Mr Arati.
