MIGORI: It has now been a full month since 23-year-old Emmaculate Wanjiru walked into the Migori County Referral Hospital (MCRH) on her own two feet, eager to bring a new life into the world.

She left in a body bag, leaving behind a newborn son who will never know his mother’s touch, and a grieving family trapped in a nightmare of unanswered questions, mounting mortuary bills, and institutional stonewalling.

To this day, Emmaculate has not been laid to rest.

Her body remains in the hospital mortuary as her family struggles to find answers, navigate legal hurdles, and manage the daily accumulation of storage fees they simply cannot afford.

What was supposed to be a routine delivery on June 21 quickly spiraled into a fatal tragedy.

Referred as an emergency transfer from Osingo Dispensary when her labor presented complications, Wanjiru was admitted to MCRH, signed standard consent forms, and was wheeled into the operating theater.

She delivered a healthy baby boy via C-section.

Her mother-in-law, Grace, even shared a brief, reassuring moment with her in the recovery area before Wanjiru was slated for transfer to the ward, a transfer she would never complete.

Instead, over the next five hours, Wanjiru was subjected to two additional surgeries, including an unconsented hysterectomy (the removal of her womb), before being pronounced dead at 9:30pm.

Bureaucracy and hostility

During a press briefing on June 22, Migori County Health CEC Caleb Opondi offered a staunch defense of the hospital, publicly claiming that no medical negligence was involved and that the clinical team “fought for her until the very end.”

Yet a month later, the family’s desperate pursuit of the truth has exposed glaring contradictions in the county’s official narrative.

“If there was no negligence, as the CEC claimed, why has the hospital adamantly refused to release her medical records? Right from the moment she was admitted, to the theater logs, to the surgical procedure notes, why hide them?” asks Velma Achieng, Wanjiru’s aunt.

The family’s attempt to secure Wanjiru’s treatment charts, theater registers, and C-section records has been met with cold, bureaucratic resistance from MCRH administration.

Even more alarming are reports that hospital management issued a chilling warning: if an independent postmortem reveals that the operation was conducted without error, the hospital will pursue legal action against the family for defamation.

This tactic raises disturbing questions, why threaten a grieving family seeking closure? What is MCRH hiding behind closed doors?

Questions about un-consented

Wanjiru’s husband, Peter Otieno, and her grandmother Grace remain tormented by the unauthorized removal of her womb and the hours of mystery surrounding her second and third procedures.

“Who signed the consent form to remove her womb? What was wrong with her organ that required taking it out without informing us? If she was in critical condition upon admission, why did she walk into that theater on her own feet?” demanded Otieno.

Amidst circulating claims by county officials and local politicians that support has been provided, Achieng firmly debunks those assertions.

“We hear rumors that the County Government and some politicians claim to have helped us. We want to state clearly that we have received zero assistance from anyone,” Achieng stated adding that, “No politician who visited our home, nor the county executive, has provided any aid to this family. They are simply using our tragedy for public relations.”

Silent MCAs

Achieng further revealed that the family took their grievance directly to the County Assembly of Migori, hoping local lawmakers would intervene, demand the medical files, or trigger an official inquiry.

“We went all the way to the County Assembly to seek intervention, but till today, absolutely nothing has happened. We have received no feedback, no communication, and no help,” she added.

Uriri lawmaker Mark Nyamita slammed the county government and MCRH leadership for withholding critical records, emphasizing that establishing the truth through an independent postmortem is about reform and accountability rather than personal vengeance.

“The Migori County Government has repeatedly refused to release records to the family, records that are essential to seeking justice,” Nyamita stated.

“If there was medical negligence, it must be established. When the postmortem is conducted, the family must be represented by their own independent doctor and lawyer.”

“We are not demanding these postmortem results to punish anybody,” the lawmaker added.

“We are doing this to ensure that these kinds of mistakes are identified and corrected so that this never happens to another mother again.”

The core question hanging over Migori County today is simple: Is there any real hope of achieving justice when a public facility refuses to provide basic medical documents, and when local oversight bodies turn a deaf ear?

How can an investigation be deemed transparent when officials hide behind press briefings and false claims of assistance while withholding the evidence that would prove or disprove negligence?

Orphaned infant

While local leaders posture and health administrators attempt to sanitize the hospital’s image, the practical toll on the family is devastating.

Emmaculate remains unburied as every passing day adds to an impossible financial burden. The family cannot proceed with burial plans until an independent postmortem is conducted and the truth is established, yet they face an escalating mortuary bill they cannot clear.

Meanwhile, Wanjiru’s newborn son is currently being cared for by his grandmother, who has no steady income to afford basic infant formula or essential supplies.

“She is still lying at the mortuary right now because we have no means to proceed. We don’t have money for a private postmortem, we don’t have money for lawyers, and the mortuary bill is rising every single day,” Grace cried.

“The government must step in. We don’t want cover-ups, false claims, or political tokens. We want the medical records. We want the truth. We want to give Emmaculate a decent burial and get justice.”