How Twitter Saved Woman Trapped at JKIA

A Kenyan woman, who spent 30 hours at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) waiting for the results of a Yellow Fever test resorted to Twitter to prompt action from the Ministry of Health and JKIA officials.

Corrie Mwende took her frustration to Twitter to get the attention of the Ministry of Health (MoH) and Kenya Medical Research Institute(KEMRI) officials, who held her at the airport since she had not received a yellow fever vaccine.

“I travelled to Uganda by road, no one at the border stopped me. No one asked me about the yellow fever certificate,” 

“When I booked my flight with Rwanda Air there was no disclaimer on having the certificate,” she lamented.

Mwende narrates how she arrived at the JKIA at 10.30am on Sunday only to be told that she had to get tested for yellow fever because she didn’t have a certificate.

“So from 10:30 am i patiently waited for the lab guy from KEMRI who arrived at 4:30 pm. He took my blood sample”.

She highlighted the double standards with which KEMRI handled passengers and the unclear information and procedures to be followed.

“You guys have double standards though. Yesterday some chic [sic] lied that she lost her cert and she was let go… People are buying these certs and some bribing to get out of a situation like mine, some ladies here have been given the option of being vaccinated, let go and will be given results later,” she continued.

Her angry tweets caught the attention of MoH officials who promised that she would get her results. "Ministry of Health has assured me that in an hours time I will have my results. However if it were not for Twitter I wouldn't have had any progress," she said.

In a rejoinder, Health officials Monday moved to clear the air over the treatment of Mwende.

They tweeted that “According to the World Health Organisation Uganda, DRC and Angola have active Yellow Fever outbreaks” and “Any Kenyan coming in from these countries & has no Yellow Fever certificate will be tested”.

They also said that “If one's Yellow Fever results are not conclusive, another test will be ran. If the results are negative, he or she will be vaccinated and released.