Lung patient caught in tussle over money Kenyans donated for her treatment
Kenyans online have poked holes in the way donations to a lung patient who was blind and depended on oxygen cylinders were handled.
Users camped on the funds drive manager Ndungu Nyoro’s Facebook wall demanding for information regarding how the funds have been used.
On Wednesday Mr Nyoro posted that the accusations made by a vernacular journalist that Gladys Kamande had not received treatment due to lack of funds were false.
“Out of the total Kshs 9.5m raised, the trips to India and local hospital visits have consumed about Kshs. 4.5M The last to I checked the account had a balance of Kshs 5M. Gladys returned from India on Saturday. She developed breathing difficulties on Monday. When she reached out to me I asked she be taken to Komarock Modern Hospital because that’s where they understand her history. She was admitted in the evening,” Mr Nyoro wrote.
HOSPITALIZED
“I was on phone with the attending doctor till midnight when he assured me she was stable. On Tuesday I spent my afternoon at her bedside. Her daughters Annita and Njeri were also there. It’s quite unfortunate to read from someone and the few others who have not been there before, insinuating that I and the other signatories are not effectively supporting her. I wonder why it has taken all this time to realize I’m the wrong person.”
When Nairobi News called Mr Nyoro to understand the genesis of the funds tussle, he explained that as a signatory in the hospital funds, the family was required to account for every coin and it was when they were asked to account for the money used during the recent India trip that trouble started.
“I started receiving calls that I was making it hard for Gladys to access treatment which is not true as my job is to ensure the money Kenyans donated is used for its sole intended purpose which is treatment only,” Mr Nyoro told Nairobi News.
Ms Kamande, who is currently hospitalized, narrated how her last trip to India was marred by a lot of problems in accessing treatment funds.
PURCHASE PLOT
“At some point Ndungu stopped picking my calls and responding to messages and we were detained at the hotel for unpaid bills. The money was availed later on after myself and my daughter who was accompanying me talked to the other signatory, my landlord Mr Kibue,” Ms Kamande told Nairobi News amid sobs.
Ms Kamande’s mother is also a signatory in the treatment funds account that currently has a balance of Sh 5 million. She was however not available for comment.
Mr Nyoro has however denied making it hard for Ms Kamande to receive treatment stating, “The accusations being leveled on me are because I refused to allow the funds to be used to purchase a plot.”
Ms Kamande has since denied requesting to divert treatment funds to purchase a plot stating, “I have never been a signatory and in my condition how would I even be interested in purchasing land when my health is unstable?”
