Boniface Mwangi shares his Doctored Abuse story

You’ve seen him heckling presidents and leading protests against Kenya’s ‘MPigs’, but on 16^th June 2009 Boniface Mwangi was fighting a different battle altogether.

That Tuesday morning, a frantic Mwangi was in Nairobi Hospital where his young wife, Njeri Kang’ethe, was receiving emergency treatment after a medical procedure went awry.

Earlier that day, a neighbour went to Mwangi’s home after hearing some commotion in the house. The concerned neighbour arrived to find Njeri unconscious and bleeding profusely.

Immediately, she was rushed to hospital where specialist doctors discovered that her condition resulted from a poorly performed gynecological procedure.

Losing a pregnancy

Nearly two weeks before, Njeri went for a voluntary scan at Family Care Medical Centre at Phoenix House, Kenyatta Avenue, Nairobi. Four months pregnant, she consulted Dr. Stephen Maina seeking to know the welfare of her unborn child.

To her dismay, the doctor informed her that the child did not have a heartbeat, and the pregnancy was not viable.

“We were informed that the pregnancy was not viable and an evacuation was necessary. An evacuation of the uterus is a procedure where the cervix neck of the womb is opened up and the womb is emptied,” posted the activist.

The procedure was scheduled for the following day (4^th June 2009), and Mwangi’s wife was discharged the same day.

Four days after the procedure, Njeri was still experiencing abdominal pain and she went to see the doctor once more.

“On 10th June my wife went to see Dr. Maina for a review, she had many questions about what may have caused the miscarriage and he told her of a few possibilities. She was cramping and the doctor didn’t re-examine to see if the cervix had closed,” said Mwangi.

After the procedure the couple decided that they wanted to take some time before trying for another child, and Dr Maina prescribed some contraceptives.

That is when things took a turn for the worse. The bleeding and cramping continued and Njeri collapsed in her house six days later.

Upon investigative procedures, experts told Mwangi that the evacuation was not done correctly, “One of the clots that came forth was actually the foetus. Another gynaecologist, Dr. Gachiri, examined my wife and recommended a second evacuation. She was taken to theatre and it was done.”

Lucky she’s alive

After his wife’s condition had stabilised, a livid Boniface went to see Dr. Mwangi to demand answers about the botched procedure.

According to the outspoken activist, the doctor explained that sometimes some tissues are left in the womb during a pregnancy evacuation.

Upon realising that the conversation was being taped, Dr. Maina Kicked them our saying that Mwangi should count himself lucky that his wife was alive.

“He told us there was nowhere we could take him. That l should count myself lucky since my wife was alive and in his own words, ‘We take women to theatre and they die, that’s why hospitals have mortuaries,’” posted Mwangi.

On behalf of his wife, Mwangi reported the matter to Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentist’s Board (KMPDB) on June 26th 2009 and he received a letter on 10th July 2009 informing him that the board was probing the matter.A copy of the letter, dated 10^th July, was posted on his Facebook page.

According to the Pawa254 founder, the board went silent on the matter for three years. It was only in 2012 that they were notified of a disciplinary hearing. Five years later, he says that KMPDB has yet to inform him of what became of the incident.

We reached out  to KMPDB to get their statement on Mwangi’s case, but we were unable to get a comment.

Boniface Mwangi shared his story after Citizen TV aired an exposé on a quack doctor, Mugo Wa Wairimu, who has been raping patients at his gynecological clinic.

In the feature, the fake doctor is caught on hidden camera sexually abusing an unconscious woman in his Nairobi clinic. The clip caused an uproar with many people across the country calling for his arrest and prosecution.