The Kenya Women Parliamentary Association (KEWOPA) on Sunday demanded swift action from the Ministry of Health and the Kisii County Government, including the immediate closure of Magena Dispensary, following a tragic incident in which a mother and her child succumbed while receiving treatment at the facility.
Led by Vihiga Woman Representative Beatrice Adagala, KEWOPA members toured the facility and sharply criticised its management, raising concerns over its capacity to serve the public effectively.
The lawmakers further called for the apprehension of the facility’s senior management, citing gross negligence and failure to take timely action that could have saved the lives of the two victims.
''This is even surprised to be referred to as a hospital. This deserves to be a cattle shed, and on the contrary, it does not even reach the standards. We are demanding that the Ministry of Health swings very fast to action and come and close this dispensary immediately," Adagala demanded.
According to the postmortem done on the deceased, it was found that she succumbed to prolonged labour that she endured while waiting for the medical personnel to attend to her.
Additionally, the MPs observed that basic facilities at the hospital were in a sad state of affairs, revealing that the bed the late woman used was even broken.
These included a lack of access to electricity and water at the dispensary despite them being a basic requirement.
Further, the lawmakers raised fears over the risk of infections among other patients at the facility.
''The postmortem showed that it was prolonged labour. Today, we have looked at the dispensary and found out that it does not have anything at all," said Doris Aburi, a lawmaker from the region and a member of KEWOPA.
The lawmakers lamented that it was unacceptable for women to still die from labour complications and childbirth in the 21st century.
As of 2024, Kenya's maternal mortality rate stands at approximately 594 mortalities per 100,000 live births, ranking it the fourth highest in Africa.
This indicates that Kenya is significantly off track in meeting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target of reducing maternal mortality to less than 70 mortalities per 100,000 live births by 2030.
