An 11-year-old boy is being detained at the Siaya County Referral Hospital for failing to clear a Sh50,000 hospital bill.
This is after the hospital performed a surgery on the boy after suffering serious injuries which were allegedly inflicted by his neighbour.
The bill accumulated to Sh50,000 in six days, considering that it was Sh30,000 on September 20, with the boy's mother, a casual labourer, being unable to foot the bill.
Consequently, Alego Usonga Children's Officer Beatrice Auma Oguda has since written to the hospital to request for a waiver of the bill, citing the mother's inability to pay.
"The boy's single mother, a casual labourer, has been attending to the child in hospital for more than one month. She is unable to pay the hospital bill," she said in a letter on Tuesday, but had not received any response by Thursday.
However, the detention claims were dismissed by County Chief Officer of Health James Omondi, who said that the hospital doesn't detain patients.
“Those in hospital are still undergoing treatment. If discharged, they are released home after payment, those unable to pay to undergo an assessment by a social worker and are released,” he told the Nation.
The boy's neighbour was on Wednesday arraigned in court to face assault charges.