Amnesty International has helped secure the release of a KCA student who had been involved in a hit and run accident in Nairobi.
In an announcement seen by Kenyans.co.ke on Thursday, July 23, the NGO celebrated the immediate and unconditional release from unlawful detention of Dennis Bwire Omondi at Radiant Hospital.
The patient had been detained for 112 days and had accumulated a bill of Ksh1 million which he was unable to clear.
Amnesty International had threatened to institute legal action if the hospital continued holding Bwire.
The patient sought treatment at the health facility on April 1, 2020, after he was involved in a hit and run accident that required emergency and rehabilitative care.
Omondi had negotiated a payment plan by paying the bill in installments three months after his recovery.
“I tried my best to convince them to let me go and give me a window of three months up to November, then I would hustle hard and start paying up the bill.
“I promised in writing to start paying Ksh 25,000 a month or whatever I could after I recovered because currently I have nothing. They refused,” Omondi added.
The hospital demanded Omondi to pay Ksh 500,000 upfront before his release.
The NGO called for hospitals in Kenya to explore patient-centered mechanisms for debt recovery.
Parliament was also urged to facilitate the legislation of patient protection mechanisms that will prevent hospitals from detaining patients over bills.
“Unlawful detention should not be normalised by health institutions. The unlawful detention has left Bwire traumatising, depressed and fearful,” Amnesty International Executive Director Irungu Houghton stated.
