A widow in Mombasa is appealing for a waiver of a Sh1.1 million hospital bill and financial assistance to secure the release of her late husband’s body for burial.
Juliet Waiyego Chaura says her husband, Dominic Auma Kabete, 43, died three weeks ago after undergoing two surgeries at the Coast General Teaching and Referral Hospital in Mombasa.
She said the deceased, who was the family’s sole breadwinner, had left behind four children who depended on him for support. Kabete had been admitted to the hospital twice with severe headaches and underwent surgery on both occasions.
According to Juliet, her husband appeared to recover after the first surgery but was readmitted with similar symptoms. “During the second surgery, he went into a coma and never regained consciousness,” she said tearfully.
The grieving widow said it is painful knowing her husband’s body has been lying in the mortuary for weeks and pleaded for assistance from well-wishers and the county government to enable her to bury him.
Human Rights Activist Evans Momanyi has joined her in appealing to Mombasa Governor Abdulswamad Sharif Nassir and County Assembly Speaker Aharub Khatri to grant the waiver.
Momanyi said Juliet, a resident of Kisauni Sub-county, is financially strained and cannot afford to pay the bill, urging the county government and well-wishers to intervene so that the body, which has been held for over three weeks, can be released.
He added that the situation has taken a heavy emotional and psychological toll on the widow and her family.
By Sadik Hassan
