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Kenyatta Hospital to install CCTV cameras for security


The Ministry of Health will mount CCTV cameras at the Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi, as part of security measures following the killing of a cancer patient last year.

Cosmas Kenyatta Mutunga, 42, was found in a pool of blood in Ward 8C, on November 29. Almost a year later, the killers are still at large.

The management of the KNH on Tuesday admitted to the National Assembly’s Health Committee that it was facing security challenges.

Chief Executive Officer Lily Koros told the committee that the hospital did not have the funds to buy and install the cameras or hire more security personnel.

A ministry official, Dr Makau Matheka, said the cameras would be installed “very soon” along the corridors, in elevators and in the hospital precincts.

PATIENTS’ PRIVACY

“We are procuring the cameras but we’ll consider patients’ privacy even as we ensure their safety,”said Dr Matheka.

The committee members had visited the hospital following a petition regarding the murder of the father of four.

It was not, however, immediately clear how much the cameras would cost or the number to be installed in the 1,800-bed national referral hospital.

“We are alive to the security issues and have engaged more guards to enhance surveillance,” said Ms Koros.

“We are also working with the National Counter-Terrorism Unit and the Directorate of Criminal Investigations to train staff.”