Police are investigating the gruesome murder of a 39-year-old patient who was murdered inside ward 7B of Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH).
The body of Gilbert Kinyua who was admitted to the facility on December 11, 2024, due to a cerebral disorder was found lying in a pool of blood on Friday morning.
His neck had been cut using a knife that was found within the premises, with homicide detectives from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations called in to investigate the murder.
Ward located on 7th floor with tight security
The ward in which he was murdered is located on the seventh floor, within the heavily-guarded facility, raising questions on how the assailant committed the heinous crime without being caught.
He shared the ward with a patient seeking treatment for a similar condition with reports indicating that the patient is weak and unable to shed light into Gilbert’s last minutes alive and what transpired in the ward.
What the nurse who was on duty told detectives
According to the nurse who was on duty on the morning of the murder, all was well in the wards until when she walked into the scene of the gruesome murder.
She told detectives that she conducted routine rounds in the wards at around 3am on Friday morning and all was well.
She returned to the ward where Gilbert was three hours later at around 6am and walked into a horrifying murder scene, with his lifeless body lying on the bed, neck slit, and blood splattered all over.
Detectives who were called in to investigate the murder recovered a knife on the ground floor of the building where the murder took place and retrieved CCTV footages from areas surrounding the ward in a bid to establish who committed the crime.
The hospitals’ management, patients in neighbouring wards, the family of the deceased and staff who were on shift at the time of the incident are among those who have been interrogated by the DCI.
KNH's statement and past concerns
The Kenyatta National Hospital issued a statement confirming that it has launched investigations into the incident and is saddened by the death.
Ther incident is the latest to paint the facility in bad light in relation to breach of security and safety within its premises.
We are deeply saddened to confirm an incident involving the tragic death of a patient at Kenyatta National Hospital. Our thoughts and prayers are with the patient’s family during this difficult time. The hospital is working closely with law enforcement authorities and has since launched an internal investigation to determine the facts surrounding the incident.
In 2018, Kenyans demanded urgent action KNH was plunged into a scandal with multiple accusations of rape making headlines.