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{
    "id": 842774,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/842774/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 16,
    "type": "other",
    "speaker_name": "",
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    "content": "resort for those who cannot afford other facilities as opposed to maternity hospital of choice that it was once was. In addition to poor care of mothers and children at the facilities, there have been claims of child trafficking where healthy babies are swapped at birth for the dead babies who are then presented to their parents as stillborn births while the living babies are sold at a fee, both locally and internationally. What happened yesterday is part of the suspicion of what has been happening for a long time. Mr. Speaker, Sir, yesterday’s incident brings a number of things to light and many questions in mind with respect to the management of health facilities in Nairobi City County. As unfortunate as the death of babies and mothers during child birth is, are there any morgue facilities at Pumwani Maternity Hospital to cater for the circumstances? No. Not even a cold room. The health facilities at the county level and specifically Pumwani Maternity Hospital have adequate provision for the dignified preservation of dead bodies. Why is it that carton boxes and plastic bags are being used as storage? Is there no provision for body bags despite the fact Nairobi City Government has a huge budget of more than Kshs32 billion? Are the deceased babies registered in the death notification register as provided for by the Registrar of Persons who registers births and deaths? If there is no mortuary in Pumwani Hospital, was it unusual for dead bodies to be found at this facility? Is it not the same governors and county governments’ prerogative to ensure that dead bodies are transferred promptly and in a dignified manner to the mortuary or to the affected families as provided for in the law? I request that you direct the Committee on Health to urgently look into this matter as well as the general state of healthcare management at the Nairobi City County. I wish that the Committee on Health investigates the state of health facilities as Kenyans from all over the country seek medical care in Nairobi City County. The Committee should look into the human resource issues and whether there is adequate financing, provision of drugs as well as healthcare practitioners. In addition to this, Mr. Speaker, Sir, there is need to look at stalled projects, for instance, the 320-bed capacity Mathare North Hospital that has become a white elephant. This hospital has the capacity to reduce the pressure on the referral system and on hospitals such as Mama Lucy Kibaki, Pumwani Maternity, Mbagathi as well as Kenyatta National Hospital. If the Committee takes this up, ideally, the Chairperson should give an official explanation on the issue of these deaths that have been recently reported in sections of the media and the circumstances surrounding them and an analysis of the number of deaths recorded in the past one year vis-a-vis the number of successful deliveries carried out. Additionally, the Chairperson should give a report on the allegations of babies being stolen or swapped with dead ones without their mothers’ knowledge and are later sold through child trafficking. This is a matter that I am also taking up as the Vice Chairperson of the Committee on National Security, Defence and Foreign Relations. I hope that we can do this jointly with the Committee on Health because that is a criminal offence. The reports that we are getting is that prominent Kenyans are involved in this child trafficking syndicate that has been going on for a while. The electronic version of the Senate Hansard Report is for information purposes only. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor, Senate."
}