Kisii Governor Simba Arati fired two senior Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital morgue staff on Tuesday for alleged gross misconduct, incompetence and sabotage.
The action comes two days after several bereaved families visiting to pick up their loved ones protested the bad state of the bodies.
The first-term governor stated that he believes the mortuary staff was motivated by foul play and sabotage in order to discredit his administration.
He stated that medical staff at the Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital provided him with additional information about upcoming saboteur activities.
“I have heard some people wanted to switch off the oxygen plant at night and kill over 50 babies in the nursery,” Arati told journalists.
The sacked employees were ordered to leave the facility in public.
Arati accused the pair of purposefully turning off the coolers in an indecent attempt to discredit his government.
“The worst part of it is bodies brought by the police are dumped by the same staff with no embalming done. This is the height of dirty schemes by a people not ready to work,” the governor said.
The old mortuary would be reopened to house unclaimed bodies as well as those brought in by the police. The governor promised to allocate Sh2 million for its renovation.
Arati also announced plans to convert the chapel into a holding area for more bodies in order to relieve congestion at the main mortuary.
He expressed shock that the sacked staff were piling up bodies in excess of the recommended 78.
