Senate Standing Committee on Health inspecting the Bungoma Referral Mortuary on Friday,November 14…Photo/IP
By IP Reporter
BUNGOMA,KENYA
At Bungoma County Referral Hospital, even the dead seem to have more urgency than the living.
Senator Wafula Wakoli, speaking after touring the facility with the Senate Standing Committee on Health, painted a stark picture: the mortuary is overflowing, wards are crumbling, equipment is failing and patients are left waiting — sometimes for hours, sometimes for care that never comes.
“When a mortuary runs out of space before a ward runs out of patients, you know something has gone seriously wrong,” Wakoli said, highlighting a health system stretched to the breaking point.
Mortuary Mayhem
The visiting senators ascertained that old equipment is failing, storage units are unreliable and lack of space has turned routine work into improvisation.
One health worker summed it up: “We’re doing the best we can, but this is not a mortuary — it’s a warning.”
Yet the mortuary is only the most visible symptom of a hospital in distress.
Wards Cracked, Equipment Broken, Workers Exhausted
During the oversight visit, the committee found several units — including the maternity ward — needing urgent repairs and equipment upgrades.
Laundry machines lie broken, pharmacy shelves are understocked and critical consumables like gloves, syringes and oxygen cylinders are in short supply.
Record-keeping remains largely manual, causing delays and errors that could be avoided with basic digital systems.
Patient flow, administration and pharmacy operations are all affected.
Staff shortages are severe. Nurses are stretched thin, long-serving casual workers await confirmation and Community Health Promoters, crucial to primary care, remain unabsorbed despite national regulations.
Wakoli also noted water shortages in wards and inconsistent electricity supply.
“Patients sometimes compete with the hospital for oxygen. This is unacceptable in a referral facility,” he said.
“It’s hard to imagine a modern referral hospital functioning like this,” Wakoli added. “We are relying on goodwill where we should be relying on systems.”
A Promise of Better Days — But Not Yet
The county plans to build a new Level 6 hospital at Sichei in Bungoma Central Sub-county, which is expected to transform healthcare once completed.
The development is welcome but the county leadership cannot use the future plans as an excuse for neglecting the present.
“You don’t wait for the house you’re building to fix the one you’re living in,” civil society leader Albert Wamalwa Lumumba said. “People need dignified care today.”
Action Before Tragedy
The Senate committee has shared its findings with the Bungoma County Executive, expressing confidence that corrective action will be taken.
Wakoli vowed to follow up until residents receive the quality healthcare they deserve.
For now, the mortuary remains the clearest symbol of a system on the brink — a place where even the dead have run out of space, and the living have run out of patience.
