Why student is held in hospital
An 18-year-old student is being held in a hospital after his parents failed to raise money to clear his medical bill.
Nairobi West Hospital’s psychiatric ward has been Sammy Sisoka’s home for the past five months.
This is in spite of him being treated and discharged by the doctors.
What pains him most, he said was the fact that he missed out on the chance to sit last year’s Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education exams.
Under watch
“It was traumatising to watch on TV other candidates sit the exams while I remained under watch by nurses and guards in the hospital,” he said.
He was admitted on August 22 and moved to the psychiatric ward after his condition improved.
After his discharge a month later, his parents could not afford the Sh300,000 bill.
As of Monday when we visited the hospital it had increased to Sh737,699.
His father Sakaya Nyakundi accused the hospital of infringing his son’s constitutional right to sit a national exam.
Mr Nyakundi claimed he informed the hospital management in good time that his son was a candidate and should be allowed to sit the exams at the nearest education centre.
“The exams were starting on October 22 and I wrote to them on October 7 requesting that my son be allowed to sit the exams at Athi River Secondary School. But their response came in late,” he said.
Sit the exams
October 20’s Mashujaa Day celebrations meant that government offices remained closed so he had to wait until October 22 to get the assistance he needed.
Mr Nyakundi said he went to the District Education Officer in Athi River who advised him to hire a car or an ambulance to transport his son to the examination centre nearest to the hospital.
“I pleaded with the hospital management to allow the boy to sit the exams at Highway Secondary School, but they refused,” said the father.
The hospital administration however refuted Mr Nyakundi’s allegations.