On Saturday, August 26, Kenyans took to social media platforms to vent their frustrations over a nationwide power outage that started on Friday, August 25 at around 9:45pm.
A netizen on X with the handle @05BM44 shared that they lost their newborn baby at Embu Level Five Hospital on Saturday morning after the facility lost power due to the blackout.
In their post, they also revealed that more than three babies had died at the referral facility after it failed to run its backup generators, which were unable to power the nursery section throughout the night.
Embu Governor Cecily Mbarire on Saturday, August 26, denied allegations that more than three babies died at the facility following the power outage.
Data from the hospital shows that only one neonatal death was recorded on Saturday, August 25.
A total of 20 babies were delivered, including eight by caesarean section.
According to Ms Mbarire, the infant who died was born prematurely and succumbed to complications unrelated to the power outage.
According to the county boss, there are five backup generators and the blackout did not affect the health facility’s operations.
Blogger Boniface Mwangi had joined Kenyans in calling out the county government and the Ministry of Health for alleged negligence as the country grappled with the blackout.
Blackout
A major power outage hit several parts of Kenya including Nairobi, Western, Coast and Mt Kenya regions on Friday night, August 25.
Netizens flooded social media platforms lamenting the sorry state of power supply in the country
Leave a Reply