5 facts you didn't know about the woman who exposed rape claims at Kenya's largest referral hospital

gloria mari

January 22, 2018 4:04 PM

What you didn't know about MillyOwiso.

On Thursday, the country found itself in a state of shock after allegations of rape were raised against the Kenyatta National Hospital.

The first person to blow the whistle, activist, Mildred Owiso who runs the Facebook page Buyer Beware.

Kenyatta National Hospital, considered the largest hospital in East and Central Africa, has come under fire after being accused of gross neglect that led to the rape of maternity patients.

Ms Owisi first bumped into a nun who turned out to be a regular pickpocket at the hospital. The nun then pretended to be heading the same direction as her but Owisi was warned about her thievery.

Speaking to KTN News Ms Owiso demanded, "Why are you saying it so casually?" when she was told that rape is a near-daily occurrence at the hospital.

This led to a Facebook post that prompted other women to come forward and share their harrowing accounts of the attacks that happened to them during their stays at the hospital.

The accusations have led to a national outrage in spite of the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in conjunction with the hospital vowing to conduct an internal inquiry and the findings released this week.

Ms Owiso further organised a march to be held on Tuesday from 7am with participants first meeting at Freedom Corner then heading to the hospital.

The goal of the march- dubbed #EndKNHRot- is to demand the security and better maternity care for patients at the Kenyatta National Hospital.

So who is the alleged KNH whistle blower?

Women Aspirants Kenya

And while she might be lauded for bringing to light the rape accusations in the country's largest hospital, she and a co-admin Jackson Njeru came under fire from certain critics claiming that she was using the group to besmirch the reputation of companies or to gain money amorally.

"Over the last year, numerous lawsuits have plagued those who run the group and one of the admins Njeru has been arrested and forced to face justice on many complaints. The underlying compliant is that the group admins are now participating in the business of score settling for money or being coopted into extortion," a Mary Kinyanjui wrote for Tuko.

gloria mari