DusitD2 Victim Unable To Foot Hospital Bill

Forgotten DusitD2 terror attack victim with 7 bullet wounds unable to clear hospital bills
Deputy President William Ruto and other government officials at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) to see victims of the DusitD2 terror attack. Photo: Citizen

The Kenyan culture still remains the same, an event will last about a week or two  in the airwaves and just like snapping your fingers we move to the next trending news. However this will not be the case for Emmanuel Omalla, one of the victims who sustained injuries during the January 15th, DusitD2 terror attack.

Emmanuel narrowly survived after he was shot seven times on the stomach, back and foot, in the al-Shabaab attack that claimed 21 people on the spot. He was detained at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) for 10 days after discharge because of a huge bill and after the government failed to keep its promise of footing all victim’s bills.

Image result for dusitd2 attack

“We knew the government will pay our bills as promised, but later on government officials started telling us (victims) it was not a national disaster. They said for it to be called a national disaster, at least some 60 people should have died. Only 21 people died,” said Omalla .

According to Omalla who works as a delivery person, Deputy President William Ruto came to see them during which he said the government would shoulder the burden of paying hospital bills.

Image result for dusitd2 attack

 

Health Cabinet Secretary (CS) Sicily Kariuki and her Education counterpart Amina Mohamed also showed up at the hospital a day after Ruto left and gave assurance the government would foot the medical bills; not only the government, the national hospital along with other major hospitals had also agreed to pay bills for the victims who did not have insurance but all that’s left of that subject is just the promise.

So far, Omalla’s bill at KNH  is now more than KSh 100,000, way beyond what his family could raise. He was only discharged from the hospital after he reportedly reached an agreement with KNH to pay KSh 3,000 every month until the bill is settled.

Image result for kenyatta national hospital

 

Omalla was one of the 28 victims of the 14 Riverside terror strike who suffered injuries but were rescued and admitted to various hospitals in Nairobi. President Uhuru Kenyatta on January 16, 2019, confirmed all the terrorists who laid siege to the DusitD2 complex were eliminated, he said more than 700 civilians were safely evacuated from the seven-storey building.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *